While service members and veterans can use their VA loan benefits to purchase a home anywhere in the country, a few spots stand out when it comes to preferred real estate.
VA backed more than new 411,000 purchase and refinance loans from Oct. 1, 2017, through May 31. Below are some hot spots for the various types, broken out by county. While traditional military- and veteran-heavy areas are well-represented, the numbers also reflect simple census figures: Arizona’s Maricopa County, for instance, ranks fourth in the nation with about 4 million residents, and Los Angeles County’s 10 million-plus residents are enough to land it a spot on most any list, regardless of veteran concentration.
Don’t see your county on the list? Check out the full rundown, as well as stats from past years, here.
VA PURCHASE LOANS
| Rank | County | State | Loans |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maricopa | Ariz. | 4,850 |
| 2 | Bexar | Texas | 3,899 |
| 3 | El Paso | Colo. | 3,822 |
| 4 | San Diego | Calif. | 3,792 |
| 5 | Clark | Nev. | 3,297 |
| 6 | Riverside | Calif. | 2,591 |
| 7 | Pierce | Wash. | 2,083 |
| 8 | Hillsborough | Fla. | 2,018 |
| 9 | Harris | Texas | 1,981 |
| 10 | Tarrant | Texas | 1,839 |
INTEREST RATE REDUCTION REFINANCE LOANS
| Rank | County | State | Loans |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maricopa | Ariz. | 1,597 |
| 2 | San Diego | Calif. | 1,312 |
| 3 | Riverside | Calif. | 1,080 |
| 4 | Bexar | Texas | 1,017 |
| 5 | Clark | Nev. | 918 |
| 6 | El Paso | Colo. | 863 |
| 7 | Los Angeles | Calif. | 718 |
| 8 | Pierce | Wash. | 605 |
| 9 | Tarrant | Texas | 602 |
| 10 | Bell | Texas | 599 |
RELATED
CASH-OUT REFINANCING LOANS
| Rank | County | State | Loans |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maricopa | Ariz. | 2,916 |
| 2 | San Diego | Calif. | 2,669 |
| 3 | Riverside | Calif. | 2,124 |
| 4 | Clark | Nev. | 1,955 |
| 5 | Los Angeles | Calif. | 1,679 |
| 6 | El Paso | Colo. | 1,668 |
| 7 | Pierce | Wash. | 1,414 |
| 8 | San Bernardino | Calif. | 1,274 |
| 9 | Sacramento | Calif. | 937 |
| 10 | Hillsborough | Fla. | 743 |
Learn more about VA loans at our VA Loan Center.
Kevin Lilley is the features editor of Military Times.
