Mortgage Lending Plummeted In Q4 2023

Mortgage brokers felt the burn in the last three months of 2023, with residential lending across the board stalling. A new report from ATTOM found that 1.35 million residential mortgages were originated in Q4 2023. That’s a 13.8% drop from Q3, and the tenth decline in the last eleven quarters. Residential lending activity overall was down 16.5% YOY, with purchases, refinances, and home equity loans all taking a hit.  Compared to the boom of Q1 2021, activity is down more than 67%. “Multiple powerful forces continued to conspire against the mortgage industry during the fourth quarter, slicing back huge portions of their business,” said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. “There were signs during the peak buying season of 2022 that…

Q1 Woes: Residential Lending Fell To More Than 20-Year Low

By KIMBERLEY HAAS A report released on Thursday shows that residential lending continues to slow across the United States. According to ATTOM’s first-quarter 2023 U.S. Residential Property Mortgage Origination Report, 1.25 million mortgages were originated in Q1. That number was down 19% from Q4 2022. “Lenders saw opportunities dwindle even more during the first quarter as the longest slowdown in mortgage activity in at least 20 years continued,” Rob Barber, chief executive officer at ATTOM, said in a statement. “In one sense, it wasn’t that unusual, given that wintertime is usually the slow time of the year for lenders. But the latest slide extends a run that started two years ago and has carved away nearly three-quarters of the home-mortgage…

Overall Mortgage Lending Down, Though HELOCs See Boost

Overall residential lending activity dropped 32% YOY, the fastest decline in eight years, according to ATTOM’s Q1 U.S. Residential Property Mortgage Origination Report. The report found that 2.71 million mortgages secured by residential property were originated in Q1 2022. This is a drop from Q4 and the fourth consecutive quarter of declines. Refinances were down 22% and purchase mortgages fell 18% quarter-over-quarter. Lenders originated $892.4 billion in loans in Q1, down 17% from Q4 and 27% YOY. The quarterly dip in dollar volume was the largest in five years, and the annual dip was the largest in eight years. Declining refis drove the declines, with only 1.45 million residential loans refinanced during Q1 2022, down 22% from Q4 and a…