ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis office of New American Funding has topped $1 billion in mortgage loans in just six years.
Launched in 2014, it has funded 5,400 loans totaling more than $1.1 billion so far this year, up from 5,214 loans and $916 million in all of 2019.
"The low interest rates are helping every lender. What has helped us in particular is our technology. It allows us to capture more of our past clients," said New American Senior Vice President Hamid Hamrah, who leads the company's Midwest division, based in St. Louis.
New American also co-brands with real estate agents, increasing visibility for both, Hamrah said. However, "golf outings and chili cook-offs don't mean you get the mortgage," he said.
New American's technology enables it to provide granular detail to real estate agents, such as average sale prices in a ZIP code, average home appreciation over the past five years or longer, and whether a neighborhood is trending up or down, Hamrah said. "We help them grow their business — it's about reciprocal business," he said.
Hamrah has 185 employees, including 71 loan officers. "We're very selective about the loan officers we bring in — quality over quantity," he said.
New American is the fifth largest mortgage lender in St. Louis, according to Business Journal research. Only USA Mortgage, Guild Mortgage Co., U.S. Bank and Stifel Bank & Trust are larger.
New American, founded in 2003 and based in Tustin, California, has funded more than 67,000 mortgages loans totaling more than $19 billion nationally this year. That's up from about 58,000 loans totaling almost $15.5 billion in all of 2019.
