Yes: at an 80-84% CLTV band (roughly 20% down) the denial spread between major FHA lenders averaged 16.3 percentage points, while at 90-94% CLTV (roughly 10% down, where the median first-time buyer lands per NAR) the spread widened to 78.7 points — making lender choice about 5x more consequential, per FinanceRateCalc (2026).
Source: CFPB HMDA 2025 (1,187,606 decisioned FHA applications), processed by FinanceRateCalc · methodology · all statistics