REAL ESTATE : Great Western, Home Savings Vie to Be County’s Top Mortgage Lender

As they are in Los Angeles, Great Western Bank and Home Savings of America are locked in a battle to be the largest mortgage lender in Orange County.

Through April, Home Savings had loaned 8.4% of all the money borrowed by home buyers in Orange County this year, while Great Western had loaned 8.1%, according to the latest available figures.

The next-largest lender, Home Federal Savings & Loan Assn. of San Diego, had only 3.8% of the loans made to the 14,600 buyers of homes this year, according to Damar Corp., a Los Angeles company that surveys the Orange County market monthly.

Great Western, a subsidiary of Great Western Financial Corp. in Beverly Hills, has aggressively challenged Home Savings of Los Angeles for the leading share of that city’s mortgage market. Home Savings is a subsidiary of H.F. Ahmanson & Co.

In Orange County, Home Savings loaned home buyers $80.5 million through April, compared to $78 million for Great Western.