If you’re wondering who was the top VA loan lender in the last year, wonder no more. The largest is Veterans United Home Loans.
lender in colombia Missouri snatched the lead from Freedom Mortgage, a direct lender in Boca Raton, Florida, that topped the list two years ago.
United Wholesale Mortgage ranks second, followed by Rocket Mortgage, although both trail behind by a large margin.
In fourth place was Freedom Mortgage, followed by Navy Federal FCU rounding out the top five.
Read on to see some of the largest VA loan lenders in the country.
Top VA Loan Lenders in 2022
| ranking | company name | Loan amount 2022 VA |
| 1. | United Veterans | $26.5 billion |
| 2. | high school | $18.0 billion |
| 3. | rocket mortgage | $16.7 billion |
| 4. | freedom credit | $14.0 billion |
| 5. | US Navy | $13.0 billion |
| 6. | Penny Mac | $9.1 billion |
| 7. | credit treasury | $7.9 billion |
| 8. | United States of America | $6.1 billion |
| 9. | Caliber Home Loans | US$ 4.7 billion |
| 10. | independent fairway | US$ 4.7 billion |
As noted, Veterans United Home Loans is the #1 VA mortgage lender in the nation in 2022, according to statistics from VA for fiscal year 2022.
The company has more than $26.5 billion in VA loans. which is easily more than any other group
In fact, home-buying pros have a nearly $10-billion cushion over second-place UWM.
But the numbers pale compared to 2021, when Freedom generated a whopping $59.6 billion in VA loans.
Interestingly, Veterans United saw their production drop slightly from $28.6 billion a year earlier. This is a testament to the importance of lending to buy a home.
At the same time, several other firms saw a steep decline as mortgage rates doubled from sub-3% to 6%+.
The bottom half of the top 10 is Pennymac, loanDepot, USAA, Caliber Home Loans and Fairway Independent.
Top Buy VA Lenders
| ranking | company name | Loan amount 2022 VA |
| 1. | United Veterans | $23.2 billion |
| 2. | high school | $10.1 billion |
| 3. | US Navy | $7.3 billion |
| 4. | United States of America | US$ 4.8 billion |
| 5. | independent fairway | $4.0 billion |
| 6. | rocket mortgage | $3.9 billion |
| 7. | DHI Mortgage | $3.3 billion |
| 8. | Caliber Home Loans | $3.1 billion |
| 9. | movement mortgage | $2.8 billion |
| 10. | cross country home loan | $2.7 billion |
Now let’s take a look at the top VA purchase lenders, which offer the most VA loans to homebuyers.
These lenders help military customers become homeowners instead of helping them with their existing mortgages.
The list is quite a bit different, with Veterans United Home Loans able to hold the top spot for at least six consecutive years, ahead of UWM and Navy Federal Credit Union.
You’ll notice that Freedom Mortgage and Pennymac aren’t even on the list, but DHI Mortgage, the finance arm of homebuilder DR Horton, does.
This makes sense because some mortgage lenders focus on purchases, especially home improvement units.
However, if you buy a new home Don’t forget to compare options besides the home builder’s finance department!
This is similar to an off-dealer car loan review, which could be much better.
Top VA Refinance Lenders (IRRRL)
| ranking | company name | Loan amount 2022 VA |
| 1. | freedom credit | $6.5 billion |
| 2. | Penny Mac | $5.0 billion |
| 3. | rocket mortgage | $2.4 billion |
| 4. | Lake View Loan Service | $2.1 billion |
| 5. | high school | $1.5 billion |
| 6. | US Navy | $1.5 billion |
| 7. | United Veterans | $1.3 billion |
| 8. | United States of America | $1.1 billion |
| 9. | Mr. Cooper | $961 million |
| 10. | village capital | $903 million |
If you already have a VA loan, the above lenders can often help you with a streamlined refinance. Also known as IRRRL.
There Freedom Mortgage shines and it’s the big work they do. which accounted for more than half of their overall business.
You can appreciate the low mortgage rates that have been around for many years now.
Interest rates have now increased significantly. These lenders have been greatly affected. For perspective, in 2021 Freedom made over $56 billion in IRRRLs!
Because they don’t pivot to buy a loan. So we have a new largest VA lender. Which I correctly predicted would be Veterans United one year ago.
This VA lending sector drives up mortgage rates.
Top VA Refinance Lenders
| ranking | company name | Loan amount 2022 VA |
| 1. | rocket mortgage | $10.4 billion |
| 2. | high school | $6.4 billion |
| 3. | freedom credit | $5.9 billion |
| 4. | credit treasury | $4.1 billion |
| 5. | US Navy | $4.1 billion |
| 6. | financial new day | $3.2 billion |
| 7. | Penny Mac | $2.8 billion |
| 8. | savings bank | $2.2 billion |
| 9. | United Veterans | $2.0 billion |
| 10. | home point | $1.2 billion |
last but not least We have VA’s top cash lenders who help existing owners tap equity.
And let’s face it, there are a lot of common house stocks out there right now. It was very ripe for the pick last year, with mortgage rates still near record lows.
This is no longer the case, but Rocket Mortgage can still increase production from 2021.
Overall, the nation’s No. 1 lender made $10.4 billion in VA cash-out refis to the top of this list in 2022, up from $7.2 billion a year earlier.
Rocket has been the VA’s top cash lender for at least the past six years, according to VA data.
And they got there by a big margin. It was almost twice the volume of its closest competitor, UWM, which handled decent volume considering it came from wholesale channels only.
Third on the list is Freedom Mortgage, which offsets some IRRRL losses by increasing its cash production.
LoanDepot in Southern California ranks fourth, followed by Navy Federal FCU.
New Day Financial, which runs a number of television commercials under the NewDay USA brand, was in sixth place, followed by Pennymac in seventh.
Federal Savings Bank, Veterans United, and Homepoint rounded out the top 10 in the cash-out category.
The largest VA lenders are not necessarily the best.
I’ve highlighted some of the largest VA lenders. But size doesn’t have to be synonymous with the best service or the lowest interest rates.
Just because one company does more business than another doesn’t mean they are superior. It means they advertise more or have more resources.
Of course, it’s also likely to be best if it gets the highest customer satisfaction ratings at the same time.
Be sure to take the time to compare shop by reading reviews for these lenders and others not in the top 10 list.
You may find that the best VA home loan lender is a local store. small credit union or even individual mortgage brokers with excellent customer service and product knowledge.
Remember that once your loan has paid off, it often doesn’t matter who made it. And in many cases, it will be transferred to a new credit provider anyway.
(Source: VA.gov)
