A California credit union is taking an old-fashioned, personalapproach to lending by opening a branch dedicated to mortgages nearSan Jose, the mecca of high tech and one of the nation's hottesthousing markets.

Golden 1 Credit Union in Sacramento, Calif. ($11.9 billion inassets, 942,809 members) announced May 22 the opening of its firstlocation dedicated to home loans.

Advisors at the Home Loans Center in the San Jose suburb ofCampbell will help members with the entire mortgage, refinance orhome equity loan process. The home loan advisors will connectborrowers with real estate agents who specialize in the localmarket and offer Golden 1's Buyer Advantage program, which providesa discount on closing costs.

Michael Popp, vice president for home loans, said Golden 1 beganplanning about three years ago how to expand its real estatelending beyond the Central Valley into the San Francisco Bay areaand southern California. The team of eight mortgage originators inthe 2,100-square-foot San Jose office are the vanguard of a planthat is premised on the experiences of lenders that have shownbuying a home often involves untangling unexpected problems, withmore decision branches than any software can navigate.

And Popp said no group is more aware of the limitations oftechnology than those who design and use it most heavily.

“I can see the perception that, 'Wait a minute, you're in techland, don't people just want to just think about getting a loan andhave it magically show up in their account?' But we found that eventech-savvy customers love to sit down with a loan officer on amajor transaction like the purchase of a home,” Popp said.

Online programs are efficient for refinancing, and for those whoare both tech savvy and experienced home buyers, Popp said.

“We found that first-time homebuyers—which is usually the techypeople, the millennials who love their computers, tablets andphones—they get very nervous with that. They want to look someonein the eye, and ask every question they have, and a lot of timesyou can't ask every question through a computer.”

The center is in Santa Clara County, the heart of the SiliconValley, and home to 13,570 Golden 1 members. In Santa Clara County,the Census Bureau found that in 2016:

• The median value of owner-occupied houses was $752,400,compared with $184,700 nationally.
• The median cost of rent plus utilities was $1,813, comparedwith $949 nationally.
• Median household income was $101,173, compared with $55,322nationally.
• Fifty-seven percent of households were homeowners, comparedwith 64% nationally.
• Forty-nine percent of those age 25 or older had at least abachelor's degree, compared with 30% nationally.
• Of its 1.9 million people, 9.3% were living in poverty,compared with 12.7% nationally.

Golden 1 is the nation's sixth-largest credit union based ontotal assets in March. Among the Top 10, it was also among the six that haddeclines in first-quarter real estate originations as the volume ofrefinancing wanes.

Golden 1's real estate originations for the three monthsending March 31 were $202.9 million, 6.8% less than during thefirst quarter of 2017. Other originations fell 6.1% $757million.

However, Popp said the first-quarter comparisons include thelast gasps of the refinance surge that closed in early 2017. SinceMarch first-lien originations have been rising, and he expectsoriginations for the full 12 months of 2018 will be $700 million to$800 million, up from $650 million in 2017.

Golden 1 ended the first quarter with $2.6 billion in first-lienmortgages on its books, up 0.4% from a year earlier, while homeequity lines of credit and other second liens grew 10.1% to $362.8million.

Callahan & Associates estimated that credit unionsoriginated $30.6 billion in first-lien mortgages during the firstquarter, down 2% from a year ago. However, the credit union shareof U.S. mortgage originations rose to 8.9%, up from 8.6% a year agoand 7% five years ago.