County directory · North Carolina
CDFI lenders in Buncombe County, NC
2 are headquartered here. 2 more have a bank or credit-union branch here. 2 more say they serve all of North Carolina. Sources: lender websites (29 Oct 2026–4 Nov 2026), the CDFI Fund list (21 Oct 2026) and FDIC/NCUA branch records.
- Name this county
- 0
- Based here
- 2
- Branch here
- 2
- Serve all of NC
- 2
None of the lender websites we read names Buncombe County; the lenders below are based here, have an office here or serve the whole state. Lenders based elsewhere may lend here too. Search your exact ZIP code in the finder to include lenders based nearby. Towns in this county: Alexander, Arden, Asheville, Barnardsville, Black Mountain, Candler, Enka, Fairview, Leicester, Mills River, Montreat, Ridgecrest….
Lenders compared for Buncombe County
9 with local records| Lender | Local records | Loan sizes | Head office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Mountain BizCapital, Inc. d/b/a Mountain BizWorks Loan fund, Asheville NC | headquarters here; 38 SBA loans here, FY2020–FY2026 | $1,000–$500,000 | 2 mi |
| 2. SELF-HELP CREDIT UNION Credit union, Durham NC | 2 offices here; 14 home loans here, 2025 | ask | 208 mi |
| 3. Civic Federal Credit Union Credit union, Raleigh NC | 1 office here; 14 home loans here, 2025 | ask | 219 mi |
| 4. Business Expansion Funding Corporation Loan fund, Charlotte NC | 15 SBA loans here, FY2020–FY2026 | $5,000–$5.5M | 99 mi |
| 5. Change Lending, LLC Loan fund, Anaheim CA | 9 home loans here, 2025 | up to $3.5M | 1,993 mi |
| 6. Champions Funding, LLC Loan fund, Gilbert AZ | 7 home loans here, 2025 | up to $3M | 1,665 mi |
| 7. Carolina Small Business Development Fund (The Support Center) Loan fund, Raleigh NC | 3 SBA loans here, FY2020–FY2026 | up to $350,000 | 222 mi |
| 8. Partner Community Capital, Inc. Loan fund, Charles Town WV | 3 SBA loans here, FY2020–FY2026 | from $5,000 | 361 mi |
| 9. Mountain Housing Opportunities Loan Fund Loan fund, Asheville NC | headquarters here | ask | 2 mi |
8 of these 9 lenders have received CDFI Fund awards, together $67.1M in fiscal years 2000–2024 (CDFI Fund award database; each lender page lists its awards). An award funds the lender, not a particular borrower.
Order: how many kinds of local record we hold (its website names the county or a town in it, headquarters, a branch, SBA loans or HMDA home loans for borrowers here), then the number of those records, then the head office's distance from the county centre. Loan sizes are the range the lender's website states. It is not a rating and nobody pays for a place. SBA loans: SBA 7(a)/504 data (FY2020–FY2026, 3 or more shown); home loans: HMDA 2025 originations (3 or more shown); branches: FDIC/NCUA; distances are straight lines from the average position of the county's ZIP codes.
Where these lenders have offices
4 lenders2 head offices and 6 branches or offices of 4 lenders on this page, within 30 miles of the centre of Buncombe County. Lenders with no office nearby may still lend here; many work by phone and online.
Head officeBranch or officeApproximate (ZIP code area)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, © OpenMapTiles, tiles OpenFreeMap. Head-office points: U.S. Census Bureau geocoder.
Loan types confirmed on these lenders' websites
- Microloans (1 lender)
- SBA-backed loans (7(a)/504/Community Advantage) (1 lender)
- Small-business loans (1 lender)
Banks and credit unions with a branch in this county
2 certified CDFIs have at least one office in Buncombe County (NCUA branch data as of 30 Jun 2026). A branch shows presence, not a stated service area; credit unions also require membership.
- SELF-HELP CREDIT UNIONCredit union · Durham, NC2 offices in Buncombe CountyOfficial list only
- Civic Federal Credit UnionCredit union · Raleigh, NC1 office in Buncombe CountyOfficial list only
CDFI mortgage lenders active here
Certified CDFIs reported 49 originated home loans for properties in Buncombe County in 2025 under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act: 0.9% of the 5,578 home loans that all HMDA lenders reported here.
- Civic Federal Credit UnionCredit union · Raleigh, NC14 home loans here in 2025 (HMDA)Official list only
- SELF-HELP CREDIT UNIONCredit union · Durham, NC14 home loans here in 2025 (HMDA)Official list only
- Change Lending, LLCLoan fund · Anaheim, CAHome mortgages9 home loans here in 2025 (HMDA)Verified
- Champions Funding, LLCLoan fund · Gilbert, AZHome mortgages7 home loans here in 2025 (HMDA)Verified
Plus 4 more certified CDFIs with fewer than 3 loans here each (not listed).
A lender headquartered far away can appear here: HMDA counts the county of the property, not of the lender. Banks and credit unions below the HMDA reporting thresholds and most loan funds do not report, so other CDFIs may also lend here.
Source: FFIEC Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data for 2025, snapshot frozen 2 Jun 2026, loan-level records read through the CFPB HMDA Data Browser API on 3 Nov 2026. Originated loans only; applications that were denied, withdrawn or not accepted are not counted. HMDA publishes each loan amount as the middle of a $10,000 band, so totals and medians are approximate. Counts under 3 are not shown. How we match lenders.
Small business and SBA lending in Buncombe County
Official statisticsMedian household income in Buncombe County is $74,436, 3% above the North Carolina figure of $72,388 (ACS 2020–2024).
Businesses here took 33.7 SBA-backed loans per 1,000 employer businesses over FY2020–FY2026: more than the median North Carolina county (27.1), rank 24 of 100.
| Measure | Buncombe County | North Carolina |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses with paid employees (CBP 2023) | 9,863 (3.8% of the state) | 258,169 |
| …of which under 20 employees | 86% | 85% |
| Businesses without employees (Nonemployer Statistics 2023) | 31,197 | 920,236 |
| Median household income (ACS 2020–2024) | $74,436 (3% above the state) | $72,388 |
| SBA 7(a) and 504 approvals, all lenders, FY2020–FY2026 | 332 (310 7(a), 22 504) | 8,633 |
| …per 1,000 businesses with employees | 33.7 (rank 24 of 100 North Carolina counties) | 27.1 (median county) |
| Median SBA 7(a) loan, all lenders | $289,000 | $350,000 |
| …with a certified CDFI as lender, CDC or third-party lender | 65 (20%) | 602 (7%) |
| Variable-rate 7(a): median rate over prime at approval, FY2024–26 | 2.75 pts (112 loans; 11% at the SBA maximum) | 2.75 pts (11% at the maximum) |
Approvals by fiscal year: FY2020 41 · FY2021 45 · FY2022 45 · FY2023 58 · FY2024 55 · FY2025 52 · FY2026 36.
For comparison, not an offer. SBA figures count approvals by every SBA lender for borrowers whose ZIP code lies in the county, not only CDFIs; approval is not disbursement. Rate over prime = the SBA's recorded initial rate minus the prime rate on the approval day; SBA caps it at 3 to 6.5 points depending on loan size (current prime rate and caps: methodology).
Sources: Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023, Nonemployer Statistics 2023 and American Community Survey 2020–2024 (table B19013); SBA 7(a) & 504 FOIA data as of 30 Sep 2026; prime rate: FRED DPRIME; SBA maximums: SBA 7(a) terms. Downloaded 15 Nov 2026. How we compute these.
SBA loans made here by CDFIs
SBA data as of 30 Sep 2026Certified CDFIs were the lender, the CDC or the third-party lender on 65 SBA approvals (48 7(a) loans and 17 504 projects) for borrowers in Buncombe County in fiscal years 2020–2026, from 11 CDFIs. The 7(a) loans total $13.2M approved.
CDFIs with 3 or more: Mountain BizCapital, Inc. d/b/a Mountain BizWorks (38), Business Expansion Funding Corporation (15), Partner Community Capital, Inc. (3), Carolina Small Business Development Fund (The Support Center) (3). 7 more CDFIs made 1 or 2 each.
Counted by the county of the borrower's ZIP code. Approval is not disbursement. These are only the SBA loans of certified CDFIs; most SBA lenders here are not CDFIs, and CDFIs also lend outside SBA programs.
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) & 504 FOIA loan data, files as of 30 Sep 2026, downloaded 3 Nov 2026. Our counts, cancelled approvals left out. How we match lenders.
CDFI lending recorded here (FY2022)
CDFI Fund data, released Dec 2024243 loans and investments totaling $42.1M (median $118,000) were reported to the CDFI Fund for borrowers and projects in Buncombe County in fiscal year 2022, by 19 reporting CDFIs. More than half of these records come from a single reporting CDFI.
| Purpose (CDFI Fund category) | Count | Total | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home purchase | 106 | $25.6M | $234,000 |
| Non-real estate business | 60 | $5.9M | $50,000 |
| Home improvement | 52 | $4.2M | $52,500 |
| Non-real estate microenterprise | 18 | $404,244 | $20,000 |
| Real estate: commercial rehabilitation | 4 | $3.9M | $539,573 |
| Other purposes | 3 | $2.2M |
Of 154 individual borrowers whose income was reported, 52% had family income at or below 80% of the area median.
CDFI banks and credit unions also reported 2,114 consumer loans in Buncombe County totaling $14.2M (Consumer Loan Report, tract totals, so no median); they counted 58% of them as serving low-income borrowers.
Loans and investments reported in other years: FY2018 227 · FY2019 215 · FY2020 220 · FY2021 470.
Only CDFIs that hold an active CDFI Fund award (CDFI Program, Native American CDFI Assistance or the CDFI Rapid Response Program) report these transactions, so this is not all lending by the certified CDFIs on this page. The Fund masks which CDFI made each loan, so we cannot say which lender listed here made them.
Source: CDFI Fund, CDFI/NACA/CDFI RRP Program Award Recipient Data Release, Transaction Level Report and Consumer Loan Report public files for fiscal year 2022 (released Dec 2024; downloaded 3 Nov 2026). Amounts are original loan or investment amounts as reported. Place = the 2010 census tract of each record. How we count.
Headquartered in Buncombe County
The official list gives a headquarters address here. Check each lender's page for where it lends.
- Mountain BizCapital, Inc. d/b/a Mountain BizWorksLoan fund · Asheville, NCMicroloans, SBA-backed loans (7(a)/504/Community Advantage), Small-business loansVerified
- Mountain Housing Opportunities Loan FundLoan fund · Asheville, NCOfficial list only
Say they serve all of North Carolina
- Carolina Small Business Development Fund (The Support Center)Loan fund · Raleigh, NCMicroloans, SBA-backed loans (7(a)/504/Community Advantage), Small-business loansVerified
- Excite Credit UnionCredit union · San Jose, CAAuto / vehicle loans, Small-dollar / emergency loans, Home mortgages, Personal / consumer loans…Verified
Free help before you apply
These offices give free or low-cost advice: a Small Business Development Center or SCORE mentor can help with the business plan, cash-flow projections and paperwork most business lenders ask for, and a HUD-approved housing counselor can help with a homebuyer course, a budget or a missed mortgage payment. Some counseling agencies also lend; using their advice does not commit you to their loans. Call ahead to check hours and what they cover.
Business advice
- North Carolina Small Business and Technology Development Center ~Western Carolina University Sub-Center~Asheville SBTDCSmall Business Development Center · 46 Haywood Street, Suite 212, Asheville, NC 28801828-251-6025
- Asheville SCORESCORE mentoring · 1465 Sand Hill Rd., Suite 2040, Candler, NC 28715828-417-0555
- Western Women's Business CenterWomen's Business Center · 3 S. Tunnel Road, Suite A-08, Asheville, NC 28805828-633-5065
Housing counseling
Sources: SBA local assistance listings, read 6 Nov 2026; HUD's list of approved housing counseling agencies (open-data version last updated 9 Apr 2025). For the current list and the services each agency offers, use the CFPB's housing counselor search (it uses HUD's list) or call HUD at 800-569-4287. Offices are placed by ZIP code, so distances are approximate.
Other North Carolina counties
Source: CDFI Atlas, cdfiatlas.com/states/nc/counties/buncombe-county/. © 2026 CDFI Atlas. Quoting with a link is welcome; republishing the pages or the compiled data is not (terms of use).