WASHINGTON– California credit unions’ home loans averaged twice as much money as mortgages in either Florida or Texas in 2015.
The high-priced housing market in the Golden State produced an average mortgage amount of $339,000 last year, federal data show, while credit union home loans in Florida and Texas averaged $169,000 and $157,000, respectively.
California also handily outpaced the national credit union average mortgage of $192,000, according to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reports filed by credit unions with more than $44 million in assets to the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council.
California, Florida and Texas credit unions combined to make $30 billion in mortgages last year, more than 25% of the national credit union total of $111 billion. California led the states with $19 billion, with Texas coming in at $6.4 billion and Florida at $4.9 billion.
A total of 311 credit unions made mortgages in California during 2015. That $19 billion in mortgages translated into 688,230 individual mortgages.
By dollars, whites received 51% of mortgage funding in the state last year. Hispanics and Asians followed, at 13% and 12% respectively, followed by blacks at 3 percent. Californians used their mortgage dollars for refinancings more than purchases. Mortgage refis took 63% of the share while purchases came in at 30%. “Jumbo” mortgages, those for amounts above federal agency limits, had a robust 44% of the market in high-priced California.
“Sand states” hit hard by the housing disaster weren’t nearly as robust in 2015. Arizona recorded just $1.5 billion in CU mortgages, while Nevada could manage just $916 million. The average mortgage in Nevada was close to the national average, at $198,000, while Arizona’s was lower, at $170,000.
Navy Federal Also Leads In California
While it’s based in Virginia, Navy Federal Credit Union still topped the list of CU mortgage lenders in California in 2015. It’s $1.9 billion and 10% share came in first, beating Kinecta Federal Credit Union of Manhattan Beach at $1.7 billion, and SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, Santa Ana at $1 billion.
Navy Federal was also the volume leader in Florida, and by a wide margin. Its $1.2 billion was nearly a quarter of all mortgage lending in the Sunshine State. Suncoast Credit Union, Tampa was second, at $480 million, and VyStar Credit Union, Jacksonville took the bronze at $380 million.
Navy FCU didn’t make the most home loans in Texas last year, though it did come in third. Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union, Live Oak, Texas, took the gold, at $754 million, followed by Security Service Federal Credit Union of San Antonio at $678 million and then Navy Fed at $621 million.
Navy was also third in volume in Arizona last year, at $218 million. First place went to Phoenix-based Desert Schools Federal Credit Union at $444 million and second to Arizona State Credit Union, also in Phoenix, at $240 million.
Two local credit unions led Nevada in mortgage lending last year, besting Navy Federal, which came in third with $148 million. One Nevada Credit Union, Winchester, was the leader, with $276 million, besting Greater Nevada Mortgage Services, a unit of Greater Nevada Credit Union, Carson City, at $163 million.
—Mark Fogarty