Santa Cruz County
California · FIPS 06087
According to CFPB HMDA 2024 application volume among U.S. counties, Santa Cruz County ranks #501 of 3,210, and #30 of 58 in California.
Mortgage lending activity in Santa Cruz 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 Cruz County, California saw 5,082 HMDA-reported mortgage applications in 2024. Lenders originated 2,661 of those loans and denied 852, producing a denial rate of 16.8% and an approval (origination) rate of 52.4%. The average loan amount was $615,175 at an average note rate of 7.45%, with applicants self-reporting average annual income of $38K. 264 distinct institutions reported mortgage activity in this county.
Borrower leverage and affordability signal. The loan-to-income ratio averages 16.2x, meaning typical borrowers took on mortgages of about 16.2 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.
Lender concentration in Santa Cruz County
In Santa Cruz County, lead originator Bay Federal Credit Union funded 12.6% of 2,661 originated loans, in the middle tercile of U.S. counties (~10.9-16.7% top-1). The top three reporters together hold 30.1% 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 Cruz County's 5,082 HMDA applications.
Counties With a Similar Average Loan
Nationwide counties nearest to Santa Cruz County's $615,175 average loan (deduped against volume peers).
Lenders active in Santa Cruz County
Bay Federal Credit Union funded 334 of the 2,661 loans originated in Santa Cruz County, 12.6% of the county. 264 lenders reported activity here.
| # | Lender | Originated | Market Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bay Federal Credit Union | 334 | 12.6% |
| 2 | Crosscountry Mortgage, LLC | 267 | 10.0% |
| 3 | Rocket Mortgage | 200 | 7.5% |
| 4 | United Wholesale Mortgage | 148 | 5.6% |
| 5 | Us Bank, N.A. | 86 | 3.2% |
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 Cruz County borrowers.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Every figure on PlainLender is rendered directly from CFPB HMDA federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This Santa Cruz 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.