What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC Metro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
SBA approved 774 loans in Durham-Chapel Hill from FY2017 to FY2026, $545.5 million in gross dollars. 126 of 928 is the Durham-Chapel Hill place when areas are ordered by loans. Half the Durham-Chapel Hill loans are $332,000 or smaller. For Durham-Chapel Hill, the middle half lies at $100,000 to $847,625. The Durham-Chapel Hill median sits at 1.60x nationally. Durham-Chapel Hill splits into 716 loans under 7(a) and 58 under 504. Durham-Chapel Hill shows a franchise share of 20.0%. Durham-Chapel Hill dollars add to $545.5 million.
Class by class, Durham-Chapel Hill shows full-service restaurant (54), limited-service restaurant (39), and fitness center (29) on top. Next in Durham-Chapel Hill comes coffee shop and snack bar at 21 loans. 481 loans in Durham-Chapel Hill fit no class, so Durham-Chapel Hill class patterns say less. SBA assigns Durham-Chapel Hill loans mostly to Durham County, NC (467), Orange County, NC (168), and Chatham County, NC (113). Person County, NC is the smallest listed Durham-Chapel Hill county, with 26 loans, so the area is uneven.
These Durham-Chapel Hill tables show SBA's holders, not verdicts. Among Durham-Chapel Hill 7(a) holders: 68 loans at Wells Fargo Bank National Association ($10.9 million) and 38 loans at Northeast Bank (ME) ($5.8 million). Durham-Chapel Hill 504 holders include Business Expansion Funding Corporation with 41 loans ($29.2 million). For a Durham-Chapel Hill borrower, these rows give background only. No Durham-Chapel Hill row states a holder's terms.
Durham-Chapel Hill cancellation, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals: 14.1%. It is a floor for Durham-Chapel Hill. Treating undisbursed Durham-Chapel Hill loans as cancelled gives 15.3%, the ceiling. Charged off to date in Durham-Chapel Hill: 5.3%, a floor, across 303 disbursed loans of FY2017 to FY2021. The five-year rate is withheld for Durham-Chapel Hill: Durham-Chapel Hill loans are few. Treat Durham-Chapel Hill rates as floors. Later events lift them, Durham-Chapel Hill included. In Durham-Chapel Hill, a county name places each loan. Durham-Chapel Hill follows the July 2023 delineation. Durham-Chapel Hill omits loans with no county match. The Durham-Chapel Hill total includes loans outside the classes.
Durham-Chapel Hill approvals were thinnest in FY2022 (52 loans, $50.2 million) and heaviest in FY2024 (116 loans, $85.1 million). FY2017 opened the Durham-Chapel Hill series with 75 loans ($36.4 million). The latest year, FY2026, shows 69 loans and $58.9 million for Durham-Chapel Hill. A Durham-Chapel Hill feasibility study tests demand first, from Durham County, NC outward, not from the area average. Durham-Chapel Hill costs sit beside a $332,000 median. Durham-Chapel Hill stands at 1.60x nationally. A Durham-Chapel Hill study runs coverage on a slow ramp. Durham-Chapel Hill history of cancellations argues for it. Last for Durham-Chapel Hill: value must support cost, by appraisal. Absorption near Durham County, NC is tested for Durham-Chapel Hill on a slow case. The Durham-Chapel Hill study states its limits beside Durham County, NC findings.
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 774 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $545.5 million |
| Median loan | $332,000 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $100,000 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $847,625 |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 716 |
| SBA 504 loans | 58 |
| Franchise share of loans | 20.0% |
| Rank among metro and micro areas by loans | 126 of 928 |
| Median loan against the national median | 1.60x |
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 14.1% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | 15.3% |
| Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor) | 5.3% |
| Charged off within five years of approval | withheld |
| Loans in that cohort | 303 |
Both rates are floors. SBA withholds the status of open loans, so a loan counts as charged off only once SBA reports it; a rate needs at least 30 loans in its cohort and is otherwise not reported.
SBA loans approved in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC Metro Area, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 75 | $36.4 million |
| FY2018 | 73 | $44.5 million |
| FY2019 | 72 | $41.6 million |
| FY2020 | 60 | $37.8 million |
| FY2021 | 71 | $59.6 million |
| FY2022 | 52 | $50.2 million |
| FY2023 | 71 | $45.8 million |
| FY2024 | 116 | $85.1 million |
| FY2025 | 115 | $85.5 million |
| FY2026 | 69 | $58.9 million |
| Asset class | Loans |
|---|---|
| Not in any of the 39 asset classes | 481 |
| Full-service restaurant | 54 |
| Limited-service restaurant | 39 |
| Fitness center | 29 |
| Coffee shop and snack bar | 21 |
| Hotel and motel | 19 |
| Dental office | 17 |
| Beverage manufacturing (breweries, wineries, distilleries) | 15 |
| Child care center | 15 |
| Beauty salon | 12 |
| Automotive mechanical repair (car and truck) | 11 |
| Veterinary clinic | 8 |
| School (elementary and secondary, including charter) | 7 |
| Gas station and truck stop | 6 |
| Rehabilitation and therapy clinic | 6 |
| Medical office (physicians) | 6 |
| Assisted living (without nursing care) | 5 |
Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Business Expansion Funding Corporation | 41 | $29.2 million |
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Wells Fargo Bank National Association | 68 | $10.9 million |
| Live Oak Banking Company | 38 | $51.7 million |
| Northeast Bank (ME) | 38 | $5.8 million |
| TowneBank | 35 | $33.7 million |
| The Huntington National Bank | 35 | $13.4 million |
Lenders with 5 or more loans here; a lender with fewer is not listed, and loans SBA or a receiver holds are counted but never listed as a lender.
| County | Loans |
|---|---|
| Durham County, NC | 467 |
| Orange County, NC | 168 |
| Chatham County, NC | 113 |
| Person County, NC | 26 |
Counties with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are not listed.
Metro is the CBSA (metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area) of the loan's project county, July 2023 delineation (OMB Bulletin 23-01). The county is matched by name (manifests/ld2/county-cbsa-map.csv); a loan whose county cannot be placed in a 2023 CBSA is left out of every metro.
All assets: every 7(a) and 504 approval in the metro, including those outside the 39 asset classes.
A value marked withheld rests on fewer than 5 loans, or is withheld so that such a figure cannot be derived from other published figures.
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) and 504 loan-level FOIA files (data.sba.gov), as of 2026-09-30; areas from the U.S. Census Bureau CBSA delineation, July 2023 (OMB Bulletin 23-01); Loan Analytics metro cell MT-20500.
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a hotel project in North Carolina, financed with a conventional bank loan.
Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC Metro Area, financed under SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA Business and Industry or a conventional bank loan. Tell us the project and the lender's deadline, and we reply with scope, timeline and fee.
Start with the data.
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