Mortgage Market Intel #27 - Agent Loyalty Index by State: Where Do Realtors Have the Strongest Mortgage Lender Relationships?

Market Movers

Last week, 266 originators switched companies and 1,823 individuals obtained their NMLS license. Notable originator movements last week include:

• Venkata Rajaneesh Jandhyam ($118.7M, 206 units) joined TRI VALLEY HOME LOANS LLC
• Sreedhar Seelam ($111.4M, 187 units) joined TRI VALLEY HOME LOANS LLC
• Ryan Stambaugh ($90.8M, 198 units) joined Union Home Mortgage Corp.
• Andrew Russell ($71.1M, 122 units) joined CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC
• Robert Yusupov ($70.3M, 83 units) joined CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC
• Mitchell Tucker ($46.5M, 152 units) joined Edge Home Finance, LLC
• Ivy Seto ($45.8M, 150 units) joined General Mortgage Capital Corporation
• Kelly Cordero ($45.6M, 122 units) joined CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC
• Sam Hardy ($43.6M, 126 units) joined Union Home Mortgage Corp.
• Mohammed Shamsudin ($43.1M, 73 units) joined Rate
• Blake Sparks Garner ($42M, 99 units) joined West Capital Lending, Inc.
• Amy Mcrae ($40.7M, 76 units) joined Alcova Mortgage LLC
• Kalliope Orlando ($38.4M, 106 units) joined NewRez LLC
• John Hall ($37.2M, 144 units) joined Mutual of Omaha Mortgage, Inc.

Figures are based on last 14 months’ production.

Market Movers (Gainers by Producer Volume)

Top Gainers (non-Bank/CU):

1. Peak Residential Lending Inc +11.09%
2. Northern Mortgage +5.67%
3. Hometown Lending Inc +4.59%
4. Compass Mortgage, Inc. +3.28%
5. RenoFi +2.83%
6. Ladera Lending, Inc. +2%
7. GMFS LLC +1.93%
8. US Mortgage Corporation +1.7%
9. Alcova Mortgage LLC +1.66%
10. HomeFi Corp +1.56%

Calculations based on last aggregate production of individual LO’s 14 months’ production. Excludes companies below $100M in 14mo LO production value after gains factored in.

Agent Loyalty Index by State: Where Do Realtors Have the Strongest Mortgage Lender Relationships? 

Last week, we introduced the Agent Loyalty Index (ALI)—a new metric designed to measure how consistently a real estate agent works with the same mortgage lender versus distributing business across multiple lending partners.

The response raised an obvious follow-up question:

Does Realtor loyalty vary by state?

The answer is yes.

Real estate has always been a local business. Housing markets differ. Brokerage models differ. Competition differs. It stands to reason that mortgage lender relationships differ as well.

This week, we analyzed the Agent Loyalty Index by state to establish the first nationwide geographic benchmarks for Realtor loyalty.

What Is the Agent Loyalty Index?

The Agent Loyalty Index (ALI) measures how concentrated a real estate agent's mortgage lending relationships are.

It is scored on a 0–10 scale:

• 9–10: Nearly all business goes to one mortgage lender.
• 7–8: One dominant lending relationship with a few secondary partners.
• 5–6: Several meaningful lender relationships.
• 3–4: Business is distributed among multiple lenders.
• 0–2: Highly diversified with no clear preferred lending partner.

A higher ALI indicates more concentrated lender relationships. A lower ALI indicates business is spread across a broader group of lending partners.

Neither is inherently better. The Agent Loyalty Index simply measures how Realtor relationships are distributed.

Agent Loyalty Index Rankings by State

Below are the current average Agent Loyalty Index (ALI) scores across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

What the State Rankings Tell Us

The difference between Hawaii's average ALI of 5.64 and North Dakota's 4.11 is significant.

Markets with higher Agent Loyalty Index scores generally exhibit more concentrated mortgage lender relationships. Realtors in those markets are more likely to work consistently with a smaller group of preferred lending partners.

Markets with lower ALI scores tend to have more diversified lending relationships, where business is spread across a broader mix of lenders.

That doesn't mean one market is "better" than another.

It means the competitive dynamics are different.

A loan officer prospecting in a high-ALI market may need to displace well-established lending relationships. In a lower-ALI market, Realtors may already be accustomed to working with multiple lenders, creating a different type of opportunity.

The Agent Loyalty Index provides context that production alone cannot.

Why This Matters for Mortgage Sales

For mortgage executives, branch managers, and producing loan officers, understanding where Realtor relationships are concentrated can influence recruiting, market expansion, partnership strategy, and sales expectations.

The Agent Loyalty Index adds a new dimension to mortgage sales intelligence by helping quantify the relationship dynamics behind Realtor production.

Next Week: Even More Local

State-level benchmarks are only the beginning.

Real estate doesn't compete at the state level—it competes neighborhood by neighborhood and city by city.

Next week, we'll take the Agent Loyalty Index one step further by examining Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) to identify where Realtor loyalty is strongest at the local market level.

Because understanding who produces business is valuable.

Understanding how Realtor relationships vary from one market to the next may be even more valuable.

Upcoming RETR Training

• • Mon, July 6 @ 2p ET - Intro to RETR: The Modern Loan Officer’s Data Advantage Register 
  •  Wed, July 8 @ 1p ET - Relationship Management for Loan Officers: RETR's New Agent Loyalty Index and more Register  
    
    
  Note: Full training calendar is available at https://training.retr.com

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