Why Cumberland County has New Jersey's highest mortgage denial rate
Cumberland buyers are turned down far more often than the state average. The data points to income, loan mix, and the reasons lenders cite.
Not all New Jersey counties are equal when it comes to getting a mortgage. In Cumberland County, lenders denied 13.7% of home-purchase applicants from 2018 to 2025 — well above the statewide 9.8%, and the highest rate in the state.
Why? The data points to a few things at once: Cumberland is among New Jersey’s lower-income counties, more of its buyers use higher-denial loan programs, and the reasons lenders cite skew toward the hardest ones to fix.
Approval by loan type in Cumberland
| Loan type | Approval rate | Decisions |
|---|---|---|
| Conventional | 81.6% | 4,897 |
| FHA | 90.0% | 5,715 |
| VA | 87.9% | 782 |
| USDA | 87.3% | 142 |
Why applications were denied
| Reason | Share of denials |
|---|---|
| Debt-to-income ratio | 40% of denials |
| Credit history | 29% of denials |
| Other | 16% of denials |
| Insufficient cash to close | 14% of denials |
None of this means a Cumberland buyer is stuck — approval rates vary widely by lender even within the county. See the full Cumberland County breakdown, including which lenders approve the most buyers there, or what to do after a denial.
Check it against your own situation
Every figure here is from the federal record — and free to download.
See who approves you →Download the data →