How Many People Buy a Duplex to Live In?
Published September 17, 2026. By Stephan D. Data as of the 2025 HMDA release, the most recent year available.
In 2025, 46,746 people took out a mortgage to buy a 2 to 4 unit property they said they intended to live in. That is down 34% from the 2021 peak of 70,516. Of the 2025 total, 38,092 were duplexes, 5,565 were triplexes and 3,089 were fourplexes. The source is public HMDA data reported by mortgage lenders to the FFIEC and CFPB, and the full 2018 to 2025 series is below.
I could not find this number published anywhere, so I built it. People call this house hacking: buy a small building, live in one unit, rent the others. Everyone has an opinion about whether it is common. Nobody had counted.
Every year, 2018 through 2025
Each row counts first-lien purchase mortgages that were actually originated on a 2, 3 or 4 unit property where the borrower told the lender it would be their principal residence. 2018 is the first year HMDA reported unit counts in their current form.
| Year | Total loans | Duplex (2 unit) | Triplex (3 unit) | Fourplex (4 unit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 48,689 | 39,757 | 6,146 | 2,786 |
| 2019 | 51,795 | 42,192 | 6,618 | 2,985 |
| 2020 | 53,204 | 42,643 | 7,311 | 3,250 |
| 2021 | 70,516 | 56,603 | 9,884 | 4,029 |
| 2022 | 56,434 | 46,278 | 7,220 | 2,936 |
| 2023 | 45,004 | 37,036 | 5,501 | 2,467 |
| 2024 | 48,432 | 39,171 | 6,084 | 3,177 |
| 2025 | 46,746 | 38,092 | 5,565 | 3,089 |
The shape of it: the market nearly doubled its growth rate into 2021, when rates were near 3%, then fell off a cliff as rates rose. 2023 was the bottom at 45,004. The last two years have been flat, not recovering. 2025 came in below 2018.
Duplexes dominate every single year. In 2025 they were 81.5% of these purchases. Triplexes and fourplexes together account for roughly one in five. If you have been reading about fourplex house hacking, know that only 3,089 people in the entire country did it with a mortgage last year.
Who lends, and who can afford it
| Year | Conventional | FHA | VA | Median borrower income | Median loan amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 51.3% | 43.9% | 4.8% | $81,000 | $275,000 |
| 2019 | 51.4% | 43.5% | 5.1% | $83,000 | $285,000 |
| 2020 | 48.4% | 45.6% | 6.0% | $84,000 | $315,000 |
| 2021 | 49.3% | 45.3% | 5.3% | $89,000 | $355,000 |
| 2022 | 53.7% | 40.7% | 5.5% | $101,000 | $375,000 |
| 2023 | 55.2% | 38.8% | 6.0% | $114,000 | $385,000 |
| 2024 | 65.3% | 29.2% | 5.5% | $123,000 | $415,000 |
| 2025 | 64.9% | 28.2% | 7.0% | $127,000 | $425,000 |
Two things moved: conventional loans went from about half this market to nearly two thirds, mostly in one jump between 2023 and 2024, when Fannie Mae dropped the minimum down payment on owner-occupied 2 to 4 unit homes to 5% in late 2023. FHA absorbed the loss, falling from 43.9% to 28.2%.
And the buyer got richer. Median borrower income on these loans went from $81,000 in 2018 to $127,000 in 2025, an increase of 57%. Over the same period the median loan amount went from about $275,000 to about $425,000. This is not the same buyer stretching further. It is a different buyer.
In 2018 the typical person buying a duplex to live in made $81,000. In 2025 they made $127,000.HMDA public data, owner-occupant 2 to 4 unit purchase loans
How I counted
Every figure on this page comes from the public HMDA loan-level data that most United States mortgage lenders are required to report each year, pulled through the FFIEC HMDA Data Browser. A loan is counted when all five of these are true in the record: the action taken was 1 (loan originated), total units is 2, 3 or 4, occupancy type is 1 (principal residence), loan purpose is 1 (home purchase) and lien status is 1 (first lien).
Three limits worth stating up front. Cash purchases never appear in HMDA, so a person who buys a duplex outright is invisible here. Very small lenders below the reporting thresholds do not report. And occupancy is what the borrower told the lender at application, not a verified outcome. The full filters, definitions and caveats are on the methodology page.
If you want the metro-level version of this, which cities these buyers are in, what they paid and which loans they used, it is all in the Duplex Buyers Atlas. Free, with the methodology published.
Common questions about this number
Does 46,746 mean 46,746 people?
It means 46,746 loans. A couple buying together is one loan, so the number of individual buyers is higher than the loan count. Treat it as households, not heads.
Does this include people who bought with cash?
No. HMDA only sees mortgages. Cash purchases are missing entirely, so the true count of people who buy a 2 to 4 unit home to live in is somewhat higher than this.
How does this compare to investors buying the same buildings?
Investors took 51,412 purchase loans on 2 to 4 unit properties in 2025, more than owner-occupants. Live-in buyers were 47.6% of owner-occupant and investor loans combined, down from 50.5% in 2024. Second homes are in neither group.
Why is 2025 lower than 2018?
Mortgage rates. The median rate on these loans was 4.75% in 2018, 3.00% in 2021 and 6.575% in 2025. The 2021 peak and the drop since it track rates almost exactly.
When does the 2026 data come out?
Each year’s HMDA data is released the following spring or summer, so 2026 figures should land in mid 2027. I update this page when they do.
Last updated, and how to cite this
Last updated: September 17, 2026. Data as of: the 2025 HMDA release, the most recent year available.
Cite as: Van to Vault (vantovault.com), 2-4 Unit Owner-Occupant Lending Atlas, 2025. Compiled from HMDA public data, FFIEC/CFPB.
These tables are published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). Republish them, chart them, quote them. All I ask is a credit and a link back. The underlying HMDA data is public and produced by the FFIEC and CFPB.
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Sources
- FFIEC HMDA Data Browser, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Nationwide loan-level data, 2018 through 2025.
- Van to Vault, 2-4 Unit Owner-Occupant Lending Atlas methodology.
- Van to Vault, Duplex Buyers Atlas, metro-level tables.