Branch County
Michigan · FIPS 26023
According to CFPB HMDA 2024 application volume among U.S. counties, Branch County ranks #1,109 of 3,223, and #37 of 83 in Michigan.
Mortgage lending activity in Branch County, Michigan 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. Branch County, Michigan lenders denied 332 of the applications reported here, financing the rest at an average note rate of 7.47%, with applicants self-reporting average annual income of $36K. 115 distinct institutions reported mortgage activity in this county.
Borrower leverage and affordability signal. The loan-to-income ratio averages 4.1x, meaning typical borrowers took on mortgages of about 4.1 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 Branch County
In Branch County, lead originator Southern Michigan Bank & Trust funded only 9.2% of 794 originated loans, below the county fleet's lower tercile (~10.9% top-1 share). The top three reporters together hold 24.2% of the book, so shopping across channels still meets many active filers.
Counties With Similar Application Volume
Nationwide counties nearest to Branch County's 1,528 HMDA applications.
Counties With a Similar Average Loan
Nationwide counties nearest to Branch County's $148,449 average loan (deduped against volume peers).
Lenders active in Branch County
Southern Michigan Bank & Trust funded 73 of the 794 loans originated in Branch County, 9.2% of the county. 115 lenders reported activity here.
| # | Lender | Originated | Market Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern Michigan Bank & Trust | 73 | 9.2% |
| 2 | Union Home Mortgage Corp. | 62 | 7.8% |
| 3 | Consumers Credit Union | 57 | 7.2% |
| 4 | Honor Credit Union | 45 | 5.7% |
| 5 | Sturgis Bank & Trust | 41 | 5.2% |
Every figure on PlainLender is rendered directly from CFPB HMDA federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. For Branch County, from the FFIEC/CFPB HMDA Snapshot National Loan-Level Dataset (2024) -- county FIPS codes follow U.S. Census Bureau standards. Not financial advice for Branch County borrowers. 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.