What people paid for mortgages in Santa Cruz County, CA (2025)
Across 1,114 closed home-purchase loans in 2025, the median interest rate in Santa Cruz was 6.55%, and the middle half of borrowers got between 6.125% and 6.99%. Median total loan costs ran $7,056 on a median loan of $745,000. Source: federal HMDA filings on first-lien, owner-occupied loans.
Data: FFIEC HMDA modified LAR, 2024 and 2025 filings, loaded August 2026.
Home purchase
- Median rate
- 6.55%
- Middle half of rates
- 6.125%–6.99%
- Median total loan costs
- $7,056
- Median loan amount
- $745,000
1,114 loans, 2025.
Refinance
- Median rate
- 6.375%
- Middle half of rates
- 5.99%–6.875%
- Median total loan costs
- $4,961
- Median loan amount
- $645,000
663 loans, 2025.
Lowest median rates in Santa Cruz (2025)
The lenders whose own closed loans had the lowest median interest rate here, among lenders with enough local volume for the median to mean something. A low median is a reason to include that lender when you collect Loan Estimates; it is not a promise about the rate you will be quoted. An independent mortgage broker can pull quotes from several lenders at once on one application.
Home purchase
- 1.ROCKET MORTGAGE6.5%110 loans, median costs $7,034
- 2.United Wholesale Mortgagebroker only6.5%67 loans, median costs $9,678
- 3.Mason-McDuffie Mortgage Corporation6.624%51 loans, median costs $9,773
- 4.CROSSCOUNTRY MORTGAGE, LLC6.625%193 loans, median costs $6,358
- 5.GUILD MORTGAGE COMPANY6.625%42 loans, median costs $12,108
Among lenders with at least 30 closed purchase loans in Santa Cruz County in 2025.
Refinance
- 1.ROCKET MORTGAGE6.125%76 loans, median costs $6,808
- 2.United Wholesale Mortgagebroker only6.125%70 loans, median costs $5,366
- 3.CROSSCOUNTRY MORTGAGE, LLC6.575%53 loans, median costs $4,376
- 4.BAY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION7.75%73 loans, median costs n/a
Among lenders with at least 30 closed refinance loans in Santa Cruz County in 2025.
Why you may not recognize these names
The largest lenders in most counties are not banks. Homebuilders such as D.R. Horton and Lennar own their own mortgage companies (DHI Mortgage, Lennar Mortgage), and because builders attach rate buydowns and closing-cost incentives to using them, the builder's lender often tops the table in counties with heavy new construction, with median rates that look low because the builder paid to lower them. Lenders marked broker only, such as United Wholesale Mortgage, take no applications from the public: federal HMDA reporting credits each loan to the lender that made the credit decision, so loans arranged by independent brokers appear here under the wholesale lender that funded them. Others, such as PennyMac and Freedom Mortgage, operate at national scale by buying loans from smaller lenders and refinancing the loans they service, heavily in FHA and VA lending. Who actually lends, and why the biggest names are not banks covers the full picture, with sources.
Lender by lender in Santa Cruz
Every lender that closed at least 5 qualifying loans in Santa Cruz County in 2025, sorted by loan count. The # column is the lender's rank here by closed loans for the selected purpose. Median origination is the lender's own charges (Loan Estimate section A); median points is the discount-points portion. Lenders marked "broker only" fund loans through independent mortgage brokers rather than taking applications directly.
| # | Lender | Loans | Median rate | Median total costs | Median origination | Median points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CROSSCOUNTRY MORTGAGE, LLC | 193 | 6.625% | $6,358 | $1,690 | $5,729 |
| 2 | ROCKET MORTGAGE | 110 | 6.5% | $7,034 | $2,248 | $3,471 |
| 3 | BAY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION | 90 | 6.875% | n/a | $0 | $3,150 |
| 4 | United Wholesale Mortgagebroker only | 67 | 6.5% | $9,678 | $3,500 | $3,054 |
| 5 | Mason-McDuffie Mortgage Corporation | 51 | 6.624% | $9,773 | $4,790 | $3,989 |
| 6 | GUILD MORTGAGE COMPANY | 42 | 6.625% | $12,108 | $7,830 | $5,860 |
| 7 | US BANK, N.A. | 28 | 6.25% | $5,957 | $1,545 | $613 |
| 8 | Premier Mortgage Resources, LLC | 27 | 6.5% | $8,992 | $5,805 | $5,009 |
| 9 | WELLS FARGO BANK NA | 27 | 6.5% | $6,706 | $1,620 | $1,418 |
| 10 | JPMorgan Chase Bank, NA | 22 | 6.125% | $6,487 | $1,782 | $3,924 |
| 11 | PARAMOUNT RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE | 20 | 6.5% | $15,427 | $2,045 | $1,736 |
| 12 | GUARANTEED RATE, INC. | 19 | 6.625% | $6,162 | $1,790 | $2,308 |
| 13 | GUARANTEED RATE AFFINITY, LLC | 17 | 6.625% | $6,748 | $1,640 | $10,723 |
| 14 | ML Mortgage Corp. | 16 | 6.688% | $9,762 | $4,662 | $3,569 |
| 15 | Bank of America NA | 14 | 6.375% | $6,147 | $1,589 | $6,356 |
| 16 | TRIAD FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC. | 12 | 8.765% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 17 | Morgan Stanley Private Bank NA | 12 | 5.75% | $5,224 | $815 | n/a |
| 18 | PENNYMAC LOAN SERVICES LLC | 11 | 6.624% | $5,690 | $1,800 | $1,757 |
| 19 | BMO Harris Bank NA | 10 | 6.125% | $5,978 | $1,748 | $2,110 |
| 20 | STAR ONE CREDIT UNION | 10 | 5.938% | $4,489 | $0 | n/a |
| 21 | CMG MORTGAGE INC | 10 | 6.995% | $6,954 | $2,295 | $6,083 |
| 22 | The Golden 1 Credit Union | 10 | 5.938% | $5,117 | $995 | n/a |
| 23 | The Loan Store, Incbroker only | 9 | 6.49% | $5,738 | $1,415 | $3,887 |
| 24 | LOANDEPOT.COM, LLC | 9 | 6.125% | $6,762 | $1,590 | $4,152 |
| 25 | Franklin Loan Corporation | 8 | 6.875% | $6,171 | $1,766 | $1,485 |
| 26 | GENERAL MORTGAGE CAPITAL CORPORATION | 8 | 6.62% | $5,741 | $1,890 | $4,243 |
| 27 | Kind Lending, LLC | 8 | 6.562% | $12,902 | $5,546 | $7,724 |
| 28 | NEXERA HOLDING LLC | 7 | 7% | $14,780 | $10,415 | $3,296 |
| 29 | ORIGINPOINT, LLC | 7 | 6.125% | $6,129 | $1,640 | $471 |
| 30 | CHARLES SCHWAB BANK, SSB | 6 | 5.463% | $5,556 | $1,195 | $3,468 |
| 31 | American Pacific Mortgage Corporation | 6 | 6.812% | $9,753 | $9,173 | $5,680 |
| 32 | Cornerstone First Mortgage | 5 | 6.875% | $7,257 | $2,049 | n/a |
| 33 | Citadel Servicing Corporation | 5 | 6.875% | $20,903 | $17,110 | $16,900 |
| 34 | ZILLOW HOME LOANS, LLC | 5 | 6.375% | $7,334 | $4,344 | $5,515 |
| 35 | JMAC Lending, Inc. | 5 | 6.5% | $19,917 | $8,243 | $1,457 |
| 36 | STANFORD FEDERAL CREDIT UNION | 5 | 6.125% | $4,605 | $795 | n/a |
| 37 | Mortgage Research Center | 5 | 5.99% | $19,965 | $7,266 | $8,500 |
| 38 | NEW AMERICAN FUNDING, LLC. | 5 | 6.75% | $8,054 | $1,695 | $9,400 |
| 39 | OCMBC, INC. | 5 | 6.625% | $17,453 | $12,446 | $12,104 |
| 40 | Credit Human Federal Credit Un | 5 | 9.4% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
What these numbers are, and are not
Everything above is computed from the FFIEC's HMDA Modified Loan/Application Register, the public loan-level file nearly every mortgage lender must submit each year, filtered to originated, first-lien, owner-occupied principal-residence loans that were not business-purpose or reverse mortgages. Groups smaller than 5 loans are omitted. The methodology page documents every step.
The public file contains no credit scores, so differences between lenders mix true pricing differences with different customer bases: loan sizes, points paid, and borrower profiles all vary by lender. A median is context for your own quote, not a ranking and not an offer. Rates here are also a year's worth of closings blended together, while your quote reflects a single day's market.
Have a Loan Estimate in hand? The checker compares your quoted rate and origination charges against the Santa Cruz figures above, in your browser, without storing anything.
Common questions
What mortgage rate did people get in Santa Cruz County in 2025?
The median interest rate on closed home-purchase loans in Santa Cruz County, California in 2025 was 6.55%, across 1,114 first-lien, owner-occupied loans. The middle half of borrowers got between 6.125% and 6.99%.
Is this a rate I can get today?
No. These are medians of loans that already closed, under those borrowers' credit profiles, loan sizes, discount points, and lock dates. Rates also move daily. The way to learn your own number is to collect Loan Estimates from two or three lenders, which federal rules make close to free.
Why do lenders in the table show different rates?
Partly pricing, partly customer mix. Public HMDA data contains no credit scores, so a lender serving stronger-credit borrowers or larger loans will show a different median than one serving first-time buyers, at identical pricing. Use the table as a map of who is active locally and roughly where they land, not as a ranking.
Where do these numbers come from?
The FFIEC's public HMDA Modified Loan/Application Register, the loan-level data nearly every mortgage lender must file each year, filtered to originated, first-lien, owner-occupied, non-business, non-reverse loans, in groups of at least 5.