Mortgage Approval and Denial Rates in California (2025 HMDA)

Mortgage denial rates in California: lenders acted on 1,012,186 mortgage applications in California in 2025 and denied 17.4% of them, down from 19.5% in 2024. The national denial rate was 17.7%.

Applications acted on

1,012,186

Loans originated

569,218

Denial rate

17.4%

Median loan

$385,000

California against the national picture

California denial rate17.4%
National denial rate17.7%
California, 202419.5%

Most-reported denial reason in California: Debt-to-income ratio.

Counties ranked by denial rate

CountyApplicationsDenial rateMedian loan
Sierra County11625.0%$175,000
Trinity County30323.4%$215,000
Mariposa County65022.0%$275,000
Lake County2,25720.7%$215,000
Fresno County25,74420.4%$255,000
Colusa County46820.1%$225,000
Modoc County17020.0%$155,000
Glenn County68519.7%$225,000
Madera County5,95519.6%$315,000
Stanislaus County14,26219.2%$295,000
Sutter County2,47919.1%$275,000
Mendocino County1,76518.9%$295,000
Riverside County90,51118.8%$355,000
San Bernardino County66,66118.8%$305,000
Monterey County8,14318.8%$405,000
Imperial County3,41718.8%$245,000
Tehama County1,82818.8%$205,000
Los Angeles County197,69718.6%$455,000
Merced County6,49518.6%$285,000
Del Norte County69018.3%$245,000
San Joaquin County24,85618.2%$355,000
Lassen County73118.2%$175,000
Kern County26,76817.8%$255,000
Tulare County12,23317.8%$255,000
Tuolumne County2,04517.7%$245,000
Solano County14,85717.6%$355,000
Amador County1,57717.6%$255,000
Siskiyou County1,30617.6%$185,000
Shasta County6,46317.3%$235,000
Calaveras County2,30617.3%$275,000
Nevada County4,23217.1%$335,000
Napa County3,56417.1%$405,000
San Diego County93,68417.0%$465,000
Butte County5,94717.0%$235,000
Santa Barbara County9,49416.9%$455,000
San Benito County1,92616.9%$465,000
Yuba County3,57016.7%$335,000
Kings County4,04816.6%$275,000
Sacramento County49,15316.5%$335,000
Contra Costa County34,48816.5%$435,000
Ventura County21,92116.5%$405,000
Yolo County4,70616.5%$345,000
Orange County78,15016.4%$495,000
El Dorado County8,08216.2%$345,000
San Luis Obispo County8,26916.1%$415,000
Alameda County38,02815.6%$575,000
Santa Cruz County5,62615.5%$435,000
Marin County6,76215.4%$555,000
Plumas County79515.3%$245,000
Humboldt County2,49615.0%$275,000
Placer County18,38214.9%$395,000
Sonoma County13,18914.7%$385,000
Santa Clara County42,25213.9%$805,000
San Mateo County15,74213.8%$755,000
San Francisco County12,92012.9%$705,000
Mono County76812.6%$430,000
Inyo County49310.8%$165,000

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Reading these numbers

The denial rate counts applications the lender acted on, so withdrawn files do not inflate it. A high rate does not automatically mean strict lenders: counties with many first-time or lower-income applicants tend to show higher denial rates because of debt-to-income and credit-history thresholds, which are the two reasons lenders report most often. Median loan amount and median applicant income are computed from the same application records, so they describe who is applying — not who ends up buying.

Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, HMDA Data Browser (2025 loan application register). Latest observation 2026-08-23.