Mortgage broker in Los Angeles — the city that taught me how a home changes a family.

The Los Angeles market in 2026, by the numbers

Los Angeles County is the largest housing market in the state, and the numbers that govern a mortgage here all come from primary sources dated 2026: the California Association of Realtors’ July 2026 report, HUD and FHFA loan limits, and CalHFA’s income tables.

Sources: C.A.R. July 2026, HUD CY2026 county limits, FHFA 2026, CalHFA income limits eff. 6/30/2026.

Most of Los Angeles is not jumbo territory, and that changes the strategy

Buyers assume every Los Angeles purchase is a jumbo loan. The limit says otherwise. Because the county sits at the national ceiling, a median purchase is a high-balance conforming loan with standard Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pricing, mortgage insurance that cancels, and 3% and 3.5% down programs that jumbo lenders never offer.

FHA loan at 3.5% downconforming — FHA works

$857,036

Conventional at 10% downhigh-balance conforming

$799,308

Conventional at 20% downno mortgage insurance

$710,496

2026 limit (FHA and conforming)

$1,249,125

Loan amounts on the July 2026 county median. The loan crosses into jumbo only above $1,249,125, roughly a $1.39 million purchase with 10% down.

That gap between the median and the ceiling is the whole Los Angeles opportunity. It means a first-time home buyer in Los Angeles can use FHA or a 3%-down conventional program on a real house, not just a condo, and it means jumbo loans in Los Angeles are a deliberate choice for the Westside and the hills, not a default.

Neighborhood by neighborhood, which loan fits

• Long Beach. The county’s deepest pool of first-time buyers, close to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and the roughly 230,000 regional jobs they support. FHA loans in Los Angeles and CalHFA do a lot of work here.
• Santa Clarita. Newer housing stock and families moving north for square footage. Conventional with 5–10% down is the workhorse, often with a 2-1 buydown negotiated from a builder or seller.
• Torrance and the South Bay. Aerospace and engineering incomes around Northrop Grumman’s Space Park in Redondo Beach and the SpaceX factory in Hawthorne. Prices push toward the limit; this is where high-balance conforming and jumbo trade places.
• Burbank and Pasadena. Studio, Disney, and Caltech-adjacent incomes with stock and bonus components that need a two-year history to count. Jumbo is common; so is the need for a lender that reads compensation carefully.
• The San Fernando Valley. My old neighborhood. Northridge, Reseda, and Van Nuys are still where a 3.5%-down buyer can win, and the 2026 FHA limit for a duplex, $1,599,375, makes house-hacking a real strategy.

First-time home buyers in Los Angeles: what is real in 2026

Dream For All, the shared-appreciation program that covers up to 20% of the price (capped at $150,000) for first-generation buyers, held its 2026 lottery in February and March and released vouchers on May 20, 2026. That round is closed. If a new one opens, my first-time buyer clients hear about it the same day.

On a median purchase with FHA, that stack looks like a $31,084 down payment, MyHome covering up to that same 3.5%, and a seller credit of up to 6% absorbing closing costs. It is possible to buy in Los Angeles County with remarkably little of your own cash; the constraint is the payment, not the down payment.

What a Los Angeles payment looks like

Principal & interest (6.5%, 30-yr)$5,052 80%

Property tax (~1.1%)$814 13%

Homeowners insurance (estimate)$180 3%

Mortgage insurance (est., 10% down)$265 4%

Illustrative only. Prop 13 sets tax at 1% of your purchase price plus bonds, rising at most 2% a year; a supplemental bill follows closing. Insurance and PMI vary by property and credit.

Los Angeles incomes, and how underwriting reads them

Kaiser Permanente is the county’s largest private employer; UCLA Health, Disney in Burbank, the aerospace corridor, and the ports round out the paychecks I see most. Los Angeles also has more self-employed borrowers than almost any market in the country, from entertainment contractors to restaurant owners to real estate agents, and that is where a broker earns the fee:

• 1099 and business-owner income. Bank statement loans in Los Angeles qualify on 12 or 24 months of deposits with a 50% expense factor on business accounts, lower with a CPA letter. I co-founded a clothing brand before mortgages and lived on that kind of income; I know what the tax return looks like.
• Investors. DSCR loans in Los Angeles qualify a rental on its rent schedule, close in an LLC, and skip the tax returns entirely.
• Stock and bonus compensation. Counted with a two-year history at most lenders, at percentages that vary by lender. This is a shop-the-file situation, not a one-bank situation.

Closing a Los Angeles loan with Zach

1. 1
   Day 1

   Say hi

   Call or text the (213) number. I price FHA, conventional, and jumbo against the $1,249,125 line so you know which lane you are in before you tour.

2. 2
   Week 1

   Real pre-approval

   Documents reviewed, credit run once, a letter that holds up in a multiple-offer weekend in Long Beach or the Valley.

3. 3
   Under contract

   Escrow opens

   Los Angeles escrow and title, a local appraiser, electronic disclosures. I run the calendar against your contingency dates.

4. 4
   About 13 days

   Clear to close

   My closings average about 13 days from application. Mobile notary at signing; escrow records the next business day.

Transfer taxes in Los Angeles are customarily the seller’s: $1.10 per $1,000 to the county plus $4.50 per $1,000 inside the City of Los Angeles, with Measure ULA applying only above $5.4 million. Buyer closing costs run 2–5% of the price, and California charges no mortgage tax. The number that surprises Los Angeles buyers is the supplemental property tax bill after closing; I put it in your estimate before you offer.

Figures current as of September 2026. Limits, CalHFA terms, and market data change; I re-verify on your actual file.