Fewer people are qualifying for home loans these days, and those who do often face more paperwork and longer processing times than before.

But loan applicants don’t seem very bothered — at least according to a new survey by J.D. Power & Associates of nearly 4,300 loan customers in the 12 months that ended on June 30. Out of a possible 1,000 points on J.D. Power’s customer satisfaction scale, mortgage originators scored 757, up from the industry’s average of 750 in the previous two years.

The more positive results had less to do with the lenders, however, and more to do with lower expectations, said Tim Ryan, director of the financial services practice at J.D. Power, a research company based in Westlake Village, Calif.

“The public has been so inundated with negative stories about the industry, expectations have been beaten down,” Ryan said. “Then, when you actually get your loan, it’s a more appealing experience.”

Borrowers are also less likely to face inexperienced or incompetent loan officers than two years ago, when the real estate market was stronger and the mortgage industry was awash in new loan officers in search of easy commissions.

“Large national lenders say that because so many companies have gone out of business — be they brokers or lenders — the surviving companies have had their pick of good loan officers,” Ryan said.

“Part of being good means providing timelines and asking for good information up front.”

Realistic timelines have been especially important over the last year, as lenders have more carefully scrutinized mortgage applications. It now takes about 11 days between an application and approval, Ryan said, which is one day longer than last year. Among other things, lenders are now more likely to seek additional documents, like paycheck stubs and bank statements.

This year’s survey was the first in which J.D. Power sought opinions about the trustworthiness of loan originators. Of the respondents, 43 percent said they believed their loan officer had customers’ best interests in mind, and only 54 percent felt strongly that their loan officer dealt honestly with them.

Gene Tricozzi, the immediate past president of the New York Association of Mortgage Brokers, says he expects trust levels to improve as regulators require mortgage originators to meet stricter licensing requirements. “Consumers will be in touch with better-educated originators,” he said.