OC’s Mortgage Firms Might be on Rebound
Orange County’s much-troubled mortgage industry may be on an upswing, according to two recent signals.
Mortgage loan provider West Capital Lending Inc. has signed a new office lease for 44,241 square feet at 17911 Von Karman Ave. in Irvine, almost four times larger than what it occupied at its last known address, which is 11,613 square feet at 24 Executive Park in Irvine.
A second signal is that shares of Irvine-based loanDepot Inc. have doubled in the past two months to $4.17 each and a $1.4 billion market cap in hopes that the Federal Reserve will be lowering its benchmark rates, which it did on Sept. 17 by 25 basis points.
Analysts are predicting sales at loanDepot, one of the nation’s largest mortgage originators, will rise 10% this year to $1.2 billion and then accelerate another 21% to $1.4 billion in 2026 (NYSE: LDI).
“Our company is special, comprised of a unique set of assets as we turn our focus to once again be the industry leader in innovative technology tools powered by the emergence of AI driven operating efficiency, we will return to competing at the highest levels,” Chief Executive and Chairman Anthony Hsieh told analysts during its August earnings call.
Orange County has long been home to some of the nation’s largest mortgage firms, including New American Funding of Tustin and Kind Lending of Santa Ana.
Orange County was heavily impacted when the Federal Reserve began raising rates in 2022, as sales in the mortgage industry plummeted and thousands of layoffs were announced.
West Capital Lending
West Capital Lending, founded in 2016, offers conventional, FHA, VA, interest-only, reverse mortgage and SBA loans as well as home equity lines of credit.
Co-founder Eric Hines began his career as a mortgage loan originator in a call center and eventually transitioned to the independent channel as a mortgage broker. He has previously worked as a mortgage loan officer at Nationstar Mortgage and New American Funding.
The company’s website said Hines’ goal is “to become the #1 mortgage brokerage in the U.S.”
Co-founder Daniel Iskander has worked as an executive mortgage banker at Quicken Loans, a sales manager at Greenlight Loans, a vice president of sales at loanDepot and as a vice president at E Mortgage Capital Inc.
To date, the company has funded $2.7 billion and says it has a “track record of being Rocket Mortgage’s #1 broker partner for more than 32 months.” Rocket Mortgage is the nation’s second largest mortgage originator.
West Lending Capital, according to CoStar data, was subletting its space at 24 Executive Park, Irvine. The financial services company has occupied the sublet space since December 2023, with 77 employees on-site, per CoStar.
It’s not clear whether West Capital Lending is vacating its space at 24 Executive Park or expanding with a new location on the five-floor 17911 Von Karman. Neither West Capital Lending nor Colliers, the brokerage that arranged the lease deal at 17911 Von Karman, responded to requests for comment.
The fifth-floor space at 17911 Von Karman has not yet been occupied by West Capital Lending, although tenant improvements are completed and office furniture has been placed, based upon a Business Journal visit at the premises.
The building is part of the Irvine Concourse office complex that runs along Main Street, a mile from the John Wayne Airport.
The 104,375-square-foot office building is owned by Toronto-based Manulife Financial Corp.
The Canadian financial services company bought 17911 Von Karman Ave. from Blackstone Inc. for $34 million, or about $326 per square feet, in 2016.
Tenants currently occupying space at 17911 Von Karman Ave. are architectural firm KTGY and German manufacturing company Bosch Themaer Gasserdy.
The building, designed by Langdon Wilson International, was built in 1984 and renovated in 2014. Colliers handles the building’s leasing and Avison Young is the property manager.
A loanDepot Comeback?
Hsieh, who had previously started and successfully sold two mortgage companies, founded loanDepot in 2010. The company rode the interest rate drop in 2020 when sales more than tripled to $4.1 billion and the company went public, reaching almost $40 a share.
Hsieh stepped aside in 2022 just as the market was imploding because of rising interest rates. Successor Frank Martell had to lay off 7,500 employees– or two thirds of his workforce as revenue plummeted by about 75% to under $750 million.
Martell resigned earlier this year and after a CEO search, Hsieh announced in July his return as the CEO.
Hsieh said he’s ready to roll up his sleeves to do the hard work amid a very protracted and challenging market cycle.
“I am feeling good getting back to the industry that I love,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
In one of his first acts, Hsieh convinced two seasoned employees who had left loanDepot to return: Dom Marchetti built loanDepot’s technology platform called Mello when he worked at the company as chief technology officer from 2015-19; and Sean DeJulia as chief innovation officer. Both men have previously founded their own mortgage-related businesses.
“Dom is an exceptional partner—someone I trust deeply, who has a proven track record of delivering next-generation capabilities, and with whom I am completely aligned in how we think about the business,” Hsieh said.
“There are very few people who match the type of ‘mortgage IQ’ Sean has, namely deep competitive knowledge and big picture thinking combined with top tier coding talent and first-hand experience as an originator.”
The Mortgage Bankers Association last November forecast better times this year, predicting mortgage market volumes would rise 24% this year to $2.1 trillion. It’s still far below 2020 when the volume was $4.1 trillion and 2021 when it reached $4.5 trillion.
Orange County Leasing Activity on the Rise
Office leasing activity showed signs of life in the second quarter of 2025, according to a Savills US report that was published in July. Many lease signings last quarter exceeded 30,000 square feet, the report continued.
Savills reported 18 million square feet of leasing activity across Orange County last quarter, a 42% increase over the previous three-month period and a 19% jump, year over year.
“As return-to-office momentum builds, occupiers are becoming more confident in their future business plans and are moving beyond last year’s wait-and-see stance,” the Savills report said.
An Avison Young report also said the Orange County office market is showing signs of recovery.
“Tenants continue to favor amenity-rich spaces as companies focus on bringing employees back. Fewer givebacks and a slowdown in new listings have stabilized availabilities, signaling growing confidence in the office sector and supporting steady recovery,” according to Avison Young’s OC office market report.
Jeff Ingham, a senior managing director at JLL’s Orange County office, agreed, telling the Business Journal that “We’re definitely seeing big activity. There’s been a big push for return-to-office.”
He added that about 70% of Fortune 100 companies now require their employees to work in the office at least three days per week, signaling a shift away from remote work schedules. Some of those companies include Amazon and Google’s parent Alphabet.
Ingham said stricter return-to-office mandates mean companies are seeking to lease more space, including firms looking to expand their footprint after giving up space during the first and second years of the pandemic.
The JLL senior managing director added that if mortgage rates decline over the next few years, more homeowners may refinance especially those who bought homes at a rate of 6% or 7%. An increase in refinance applications signals more mortgage companies popping up in Orange County, he said.
Mortgage Originators Find Home in OC
Eleven of the nation’s 75 largest non-bank mortgage originators are based in Orange County, according to Scotsman Guide, a Bothell, Washington state-based mortgage industry publication. What follows are their headquarters and 2024 originations.
- No. 7 loanDepot Inc., Irvine, $24.5 billion
- No. 12 New American Funding, Tustin, $14 billion
- No. 18 Kind Lending LLC, Santa Ana, $7.6 billion
- No. 22 OCMBC Inc., Irvine, $6.4 billion
- No. 26 American Financial Network Inc., Brea, $4.2 billion
- No. 32 Acra Lending, Irvine, $3.4 billion
- No. 38 Carrington Mortgage Services, Anaheim, $3 billion
- No. 39 Change Lending LLC, Anaheim, $2.9 billion
- No. 59 theLender, Lake Forest, $2 billion
- No. 70 American Heritage Lending, Irvine, $1.4 billion
- No. 73 AmeriTrust Mortgage Corp., Tustin, $1.1 billion