Santa Barbara County

California · FIPS 06083

According to CFPB HMDA 2024 application volume among U.S. counties, Santa Barbara County ranks #319 of 3,210, and #21 of 58 in California.

Mortgage lending activity in Santa Barbara County, California based on lender filings under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). Data covers all applications received by HMDA-reporting institutions operating in this county during 2024. Why mortgages get denied walks the denial-reason codes that appear in books like this one.

Local mortgage market. Santa Barbara County, California saw 8,902 HMDA-reported mortgage applications in 2024. Lenders originated 4,528 of those loans and denied 1,623, producing a denial rate of 18.2% and an approval (origination) rate of 50.9%. The average loan amount was $595,042 at an average note rate of 7.45%, with applicants self-reporting average annual income of $40K. 315 distinct institutions reported mortgage activity in this county.

Borrower leverage and affordability signal. The loan-to-income ratio averages 14.9x, meaning typical borrowers took on mortgages of about 14.9 times their annual income. That ratio is a rough affordability signal: higher multiples imply tighter monthly budgets and greater exposure to rate or income shocks. See our methodology for how to read the denial rate against a local applicant pool. This page is informational data reporting, not financial, legal, or mortgage advice.

8,902
Applications
4,528
Originated
18.2%
Denial Rate
$595,042
Avg Loan Amount

Lender concentration in Santa Barbara County

Top-1 share
11.3%
Top-3 share
20.4%
Book band
Balanced book

In Santa Barbara County, lead originator United Wholesale Mortgage funded 11.3% of 4,528 originated loans, in the middle tercile of U.S. counties (~10.9-16.7% top-1). The top three reporters together hold 20.4% of the book; a local credit union or regional bank still sits beside the national wholesalers.

Counties With Similar Application Volume

Nationwide counties nearest to Santa Barbara County's 8,902 HMDA applications.

Counties With a Similar Average Loan

Nationwide counties nearest to Santa Barbara County's $595,042 average loan (deduped against volume peers).

Lenders active in Santa Barbara County

United Wholesale Mortgage funded 510 of the 4,528 loans originated in Santa Barbara County, 11.3% of the county. 315 lenders reported activity here.

Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) 2024. County FIPS codes per U.S. Census Bureau standards.

Data from FFIEC / CFPB HMDA Snapshot National Loan-Level Dataset (2024). Provided for informational purposes only; does not constitute financial advice for Santa Barbara County borrowers.

Every figure on PlainLender is rendered directly from CFPB HMDA federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This Santa Barbara County page draws directly on CFPB HMDA federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-10. HMDA figures are lender-filed application outcomes for a published reporting year - not creditworthiness scores, rate quotes, Loan Estimates, underwriting decisions, or mortgage advice.