Veterans United the Top VA Loan Lender in 2024 for Third Straight Year

Well, another year is in the books at the VA, and like prior years, Veterans United topped the list as the #1 VA loan lender in America.

This marked their third year as the top VA loan lender, beating out United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) for the top spot this time around.

They’ve now taken the top spot in 2024, 2023, and 2022, and as in past years by a large margin.

The Columbia, Missouri-based mortgage company funded nearly 62,000 loans totaling over $19 billion during the year.

That was more than enough to beat out UWM, which only mustered about $15.6B. Read on to see the others in the top ten.

Top VA Loan Lenders in 2024

As noted, Veterans United Home Loans was the biggest VA loan lender last year, per new Lender Statistics from the Department of Veteran Affairs.

The company funded $19.3 billion in VA loans, including over $17 billion in home purchase loans.

Impressive given 2024 was another tough year for home buyers given the combination of elevated mortgage rates and still rising home prices.

That didn’t seem to slow down the company, which saw its overall production rise from $17.7 billion a year earlier.

The rest of their production was driven mostly by streamline refinances, namely the Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loan (IRRRL).

They also did about $540 million in cash out refinance loans for veterans and active duty military homeowners.

In other words, nearly 90% of their production comes from home purchase lending, and virtually all their loans are backed by the VA. Though they do tend to do a tiny amount of conventional lending and FHA loans.

Taking the second spot in 2024 was Pontiac, Michigan-based UWM, which happens to be the #1 mortgage lender overall across all loan types.

But there was still a large gap between them, with UWM only funding $15.6 billion in VA loans last year.

However, UWM beat out Veterans United in the refinancing categories, so it’s really the home buyer segment that they need to work on.

Taking third place was Rocket Mortgage with a much smaller $8 billion, driven mostly by refinance loans, including over $4 billion in VA cash out loans.

Rocket has traditionally captured more refinance business than purchase lending business in all categories.

Rounding out the top five were Freedom Mortgage with $6.6 billion and Navy Federal Credit Union with $5.9 billion.

Others in the top 10 included DHI Mortgage, the mortgage division of top home builder D.R. Horton, along with Village Capital, Pennymac, CrossCountry Mortgage, and loanDepot.

Top VA Purchase Loan Lenders

If we break it down by home purchase loans, Veterans United was still #1, and by an even wider margin because that’s pretty much all they focus on.

The company funded a staggering $17 billion, with second place UWM not even close at $8.9 billion.

Navy Federal came in third with $5.5 billion, and unsurprisingly, DHI Mortgage grabbed the fourth spot with $4.3 billion.

Most of the top home builders have their own captive lenders, and lately they’ve been offering big mortgage rate buydowns to help more home buyers qualify.

This has helped companies like DHI Mortgage grow their loan production and beat out independent mortgage lenders, who often can’t compete.

Rocket still managed to snag the fifth spot, albeit with just under $3 billion in VA purchase loans.

The rest of the top 10 included CrossCountry Mortgage, USAA, Fairway Independent Mortgage, Freedom Mortgage, and Lennar Mortgage.

USAA is a bank that primarily serves military members and their families, while Lennar Mortgage is the financing arm of home builder Lennar. So no real surprises here.

Top VA Refinance Lenders (Streamline)

When we turn our attention to refinance loans, top lender overall UWM was able to capture the lead in the category with nearly $4 billion funded.

The VA offers a streamline refinance that requires very little in terms of documentation to obtain a lower interest rate and/or new loan term

And UWM, which is powered by independent mortgage brokers, led the way.

In second was Freedom Mortgage with $2.4 billion, one of the top correspondent lenders in both the VA and FHA space.

They were followed by Village Capital with $2.3 billion, which is entirely focused on streamline refis, including FHA streamlines as well.

Fourth went to Veterans United and fifth went to Pennymac, which was formed by ex-Countrywide employees about 15 years ago.

Other big names included Rocket, Planet Home Lending, Lakeview Loan Servicing, Newrez, and Mortgage Solutions Financial.

Top VA Refinance Lenders (Cash Out)

The final category is VA cash out loans, and this is Rocket Mortgage’s bread and butter, with over $4 billion funded. That represented half of their total VA production.

In second was UWM with $2.7 billion, followed by Freedom Mortgage with $1.9 billion.

New Day Financial took fourth with $1.4 billion and Village Capital took fifth with $1.3 billion.

Others making the top 10 included loanDepot, The Federal Savings Bank, Veterans United, Pennymac, and Carrington Mortgage.

Again, no real surprises, and only really big names. And remember, you don’t need to use one of the largest VA lenders to get a loan.

There are literally over 1,000 VA loan lenders in the country, both big and small, and everything in between.

Be sure to take the time to shop around among them, instead of simply going with the biggest name, which might charge you for the privilege.

Before creating this site, I worked as an account executive for a wholesale mortgage lender in Los Angeles. My hands-on experience in the early 2000s inspired me to begin writing about mortgages 19 years ago to help prospective (and existing) home buyers better navigate the home loan process. Follow me on X for hot takes.

Latest posts by Colin Robertson (see all)