Clay County
Iowa · FIPS 19041
According to CFPB HMDA 2024 application volume among U.S. counties, Clay County ranks #2,083 of 3,210, and #42 of 99 in Iowa.
Mortgage lending activity in Clay County, Iowa 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. Clay County, Iowa saw 459 HMDA-reported mortgage applications in 2024. Lenders originated 270 of those loans and denied 71, producing a denial rate of 15.5% and an approval (origination) rate of 58.8%. The average loan amount was $174,041 at an average note rate of 6.86%, with applicants self-reporting average annual income of $35K. 43 distinct institutions reported mortgage activity in this county.
Borrower leverage and affordability signal. The loan-to-income ratio averages 5.0x, meaning typical borrowers took on mortgages of about 5.0 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 Clay County
In Clay County, lead originator Northwest Bank funded 53.7% of 270 originated loans, above the county fleet's upper tercile (~16.7% top-1). The top three reporters together hold 63.7% of the book, so a handful of names dominate disclosed volume here.
Counties With Similar Application Volume
Nationwide counties nearest to Clay County's 459 HMDA applications.
Counties With a Similar Average Loan
Nationwide counties nearest to Clay County's $174,041 average loan (deduped against volume peers).
Lenders active in Clay County
Northwest Bank funded 145 of the 270 loans originated in Clay County, 53.7% of the county. 43 lenders reported activity here.
| # | Lender | Originated | Market Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northwest Bank | 145 | 53.7% |
| 2 | Mortgage Research Center | 14 | 5.2% |
| 3 | Iowa Bankers Mortgage Corporation | 13 | 4.8% |
| 4 | Central Bank | 13 | 4.8% |
| 5 | Flanagan State Bank | 12 | 4.4% |
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 Clay 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 Clay 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.