Methodology: 2–4 Unit Owner-Occupant Lending Atlas

This page explains exactly what the 2–4 Unit Owner-Occupant Lending Atlas counts, where the numbers come from, and what they can’t tell you. I built it from public HMDA data, the same records most US mortgage lenders report every year.

First edition, published September 2026.

What this counts

The Atlas counts mortgages used to buy a 2-, 3-, or 4-unit home that the borrower said they would live in. People buying a building and living in one unit are often called house hackers.

A loan is included when all of these are true in the HMDA record:

Investor comparison: the investor figures use the same filters with occupancy_type = 3 (investment property).

Years covered: 2018 to 2025. 2018 is the first year HMDA reported total_units in its current form.

Where the data comes from

• Loan data: the FFIEC HMDA Data Browser, filtered to originated loans on 2 to 4 unit properties. The remaining filters were applied by Van to Vault.
• Lender names: the HMDA filers list for each year, matched on Legal Entity Identifier (LEI).
• Metro names: the HMDA Data Browser’s own MSA/MD name list. HMDA splits the largest metro areas into Metropolitan Divisions. New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, and Philadelphia appear as divisions, not whole metros. Loans outside any metro area are grouped as outside a metro area.

What each number means

• Loans: count of qualifying loans.
• Loan type: conventional, FHA, VA, or USDA (rare for 2 to 4 units).
• Median income: the middle borrower income reported on the application, in thousands of dollars. Some loans have no income reported and are left out of the median.
• Median loan amount: HMDA publishes loan amounts rounded to the midpoint of $10,000 bands, so medians are approximate.
• Median interest rate: some smaller lenders are partially exempt and don’t report rates. Medians use only loans with a reported rate.
• Loan-to-value bands: based on combined loan-to-value. A buyer who also used a down payment assistance second loan can show a higher combined LTV than their first mortgage alone.
• Borrower race, ethnicity, sex, and age: as reported in HMDA’s derived fields. Many records say not available.

What this data can’t tell you

• It isn’t every loan. Very small lenders below HMDA reporting thresholds don’t report. Cash purchases never appear.
• Occupancy is what the borrower told the lender at application.
• It doesn’t show approval odds or pricing fairness. Differences between groups or lenders can have many causes: credit, loan size, product mix, where lenders operate. The CFPB cautions that HMDA data alone can’t show whether a lender discriminated. This Atlas makes no such findings.
• Lender counts show activity, not quality. A lender appearing here is not a recommendation or endorsement. Van to Vault receives no payment from any lender listed.
• Timing: each year’s data is released the following spring or summer, so the latest figures are 6 to 18 months old.

Privacy and small numbers

The Atlas publishes only aggregated counts and medians, never individual loans. Any cell with fewer than 10 loans is hidden. Metros with fewer than 50 qualifying loans in a year are shown as 3-year totals.

Reuse

The Atlas tables are published under CC BY 4.0. Please cite: Van to Vault (vantovault.com), 2–4 Unit Owner-Occupant Lending Atlas, 2025. The underlying HMDA data is public and produced by the FFIEC and CFPB.

Changes since the last edition

First edition.