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Total Mortgages Drop at Fastest Annual Pace in Two Decades

ATTOM has released its Q3 2022 U.S. Residential Property Mortgage Origination Report, showing that 1.97 million mortgages secured by residential property (or 1 to 4 units) were originated in Q3 of 2022 in the U.S. That figure was down 19% from Q2 of 2022 – the sixth quarterly decrease in a row – and down almost 50% from Q3 of 2021 – the biggest annual drop in 21 years. The continued decline in residential lending resulted from double-digit downturns in both refinance and purchase loan activity that far outweighed another increase in home-equity credit lines.

Overall, lenders issued $636.5 billion worth of mortgages in Q3 of 2022. That was down quarterly by 22%, and 46% annually. As with the number of loans, the annual decrease in the dollar volume of mortgages stood out as the largest since at least 2001 and was the latest sign that the 11-year U.S. housing market boom is losing steam.

"There are no surprises in this quarter's loan origination numbers, as the unprecedented jump in mortgage rates has battered both the purchase and refinance markets," said Rick Sharga, Executive VP of Market Intelligence at ATTOM. "Prospective homebuyers have been priced out of the market by the combination of 7% mortgage rates and higher home prices. And refinance activity will probably continue to decline, since the majority of homeowners have loans with sub-4% interest rates."

The continued slump came as just 661,000 residential loans were rolled over into new mortgages and borrowers took out only 943,000 loans to buy homes during Q3 of 2022.

During a period when mortgage interest rates continued to climb, refinancing activity was down 31% from Q2 of 2022 and 68% from a year earlier. Refinancing activity has dropped for six consecutive quarters, to a level that is just one-quarter of what it was in early 2021. The dollar volume of refinance loans in the period running from July through September was down 33 percent from the prior quarter and 67 percent annually, to $212 billion. Meanwhile, the number of purchase loans slumped by 16% quarterly and 33%annually, while dollar volume decreased to $353.9 billion.

Only a 5% quarterly jump in the number and value of HELOCs – the third quarterly straight gain - kept the industry from seeing an across-the-board contraction.

By the end of Q3 refinance activity represented just a third of overall mortgages, compared to two-thirds as recently as Q1 of last year. Purchase lending continued at just under half of all activity in Q3 of 2022, while home-equity packages comprised one of every five mortgage deals completed. That ratio for so-called HELOC loans was up from one of every 21 a year and a half ago.

The most recent mortgage numbers are among the strongest reflections yet of a U.S. housing market that has cooled considerably after 11 years of nearly uninterrupted gains.

Total mortgages drop at fastest annual pace since 2001
Banks and other lenders issued 1,968,930 residential mortgages in Q3 of 2022. That was down 18.7 percent from 2,421,540 in the second quarter of 2022 and down 46.9 percent from 3,708,000 in the third quarter of 2021. The annual decline marked the largest since at least 2001. The $636.5 billion dollar volume of loans in Q3 was down 22.4% from $819.9 billion in the prior quarter and was 46.4% less than the $1.19 trillion lent in Q3 of 2021.

Overall lending activity decreased from Q2 of 2022 to Q3 of 2022 in 206, or 98%, of the 210 metropolitan statistical areas around the U.S. with a population of more than 200,000 and at least 1,000 total residential mortgages issued in Q3 of 2022. Total lending activity was down at least 15% in 116 of the metros with enough data to analyze (55%). The largest quarterly decreases were in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (total lending down 52.7%); Knoxville, Tennessee (-44.5%); Charleston, South Carolina (-43%); Ogden, Utah (-41%) and Buffalo, New York (-36.2%).

Aside from Buffalo, metro areas with a population of least 1 million that had the biggest decreases in total loans from Q2 to Q3 of 2022 were St. Louis, Missouri (-35.8%); Miami, Florida (-30.4%); Washington, D.C. (-30.1%) and San Jose, California (-28.2%).

The biggest increases, or smallest decreases, in the total number of mortgages from Q2 to Q3 of 2022 were in Hartford, Connecticut (+5%); Syracuse, New York (+0.8%); Claremont-Lebanon, New Hampshire (+0.8%); Warner Robins, Georgia (+0.6%) and York, Pennsylvania (-0.6%).

Refinance mortgage originations slump to lowest point since early 2019
Lenders issued 660,767 residential refinance mortgages in Q3 of 2022 – the smallest count since Q1 of 2019.

The latest number was down 31% from 957,515 in Q2 of 2022, 67.9% from 2,059,465 in Q3 of 2021 and 75.3% from a peak of 2,680,523 hit in Q1 of last year. It fell for the sixth straight quarter, the longest run of declines this century. The $212 billion dollar volume of refinance packages in Q3 of 2022 was down 33% from $316.4 billion in the prior quarter, and down 67.1% from $645.2 billion in Q3 of 2021. Refinancing activity decreased from Q2 of 2022 to Q3 of 2022 in 208, or 99%, of the 210 metropolitan statistical areas around the country with enough data to analyze.

Purchase mortgages decrease for fourth time in last five quarters
Lenders originated 943,242 purchase mortgages in Q3 of 2022. That was down 15.6% from 1,116,939 in Q2 – the fourth drop in the last five quarters. It also was down 32.7% from 1,401,578 in Q3 of 2021 – the biggest annual decline this century. The $353.9 billion dollar volume of purchase loans in Q3 of 2022 was down 18.9% from $436.2 billion in the prior quarter, and down 28.4% from $494 billion a year earlier.

Residential purchase-mortgage originations decreased from Q2 of 2022 to Q3 of 2022 in 173 of the 210 metro areas in the report (82%) and dipped annually in 206 metro areas (98%).

The largest quarterly decreases were in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (purchase loans -50.8%); Ogden, Utah (-47.6%); Naples, Florida (-41.8%); Charleston, South Carolina (-41.3%) and Knoxville, Tennessee (down 40.1%).

Metro areas with a population of at least 1 million that saw the biggest quarterly decreases in purchase originations in Q3 of 2022 were St. Louis, Missouri (-30.3%); San Jose, California (-30.3%); San Francisco, California (-29.3%); Los Angeles, California (-28.6%) and Miami, Florida (-28.5%).

Residential purchase-mortgage lending increased most from Q2 to Q3 of 2022 in Syracuse, New York (+24.9%); Claremont-Lebanon, New Hampshire (+24.3%); Rochester, New York (+20%); Dayton, Ohio (+18.9%) and Kalamazoo, Michigan (+15.7%).

Aside from Rochester, metro areas with a population of at least 1 million where purchase originations rose most from the second to the third quarter were Minneapolis, Minnesota (+11.9%); Hartford, Connecticut (+6.1%); Grand Rapids, Michigan (+5.2%) and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (+0.5%).

HELOC lending up for fifth time in six quarters
A total of 364,921 home-equity lines of credit (HELOCs) were originated on residential properties in Q3 of 2022, up 5.1% from 347,086 in the prior quarter, and up 47.8% from 246,957 in Q3 of 2021. HELOC activity increased for the fifth time in six quarters after it had decreased in each of the prior six quarters. The $70.5 billion third-quarter 2022 volume of HELOC loans was up 4.7% from $67.3 billion in Q2 of 2022 and 47.5% from $47.8 billion in Q3 of last year, hitting the highest point in four years.

HELOCs comprised 18.5% of all Q3 2022 loans – almost four times the 4.8% level from Q1 of 2021.

"While HELOC activity has dramatically increased over the past few quarters, its growth rate slowed down significantly on a quarter-to-quarter basis, which raises the question of whether we might be at or near a cyclical peak in HELOC activity," said Sharga. "Even with the recent increases, HELOC volume is still nowhere near the record level of activity we saw in the mid-2000s during the run-up to the financial crisis."

FHA and VA loan portions tick upward
Mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) rose as a portion of all lending for the fourth consecutive quarter, accounting for 224,021, or 11.4%, of all residential property loans originated in Q3 of 2022. That was up from 10.7% in Q2 of 2022, and 9.3% in Q3 of 2021.

Residential loans backed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) accounted for 103,314 or 5.2%, of all residential property loans originated in Q3 of 2022. That was up from 5.1% in the previous quarter, but still down from 6.3% a year earlier. VA lending as a portion of all loans rose after seven consecutive quarterly declines.

Typical amount borrowed to finance purchase decreases to three-year low
The median amount borrowed nationwide to buy a home went down in Q3 of 2022 for the first time in three years, while the typical down payment on homes purchased with financing also decreased. At the same time, the ratio of median down payments to home prices went down.

Among homes purchased with financing in Q3 of 2022, the median loan amount was $315,000. That was down 4.5% from $330,000 the prior quarter, following 10 straight increases. However, it was still up 4.2% from $302,197 in the same period in 2021. The median down payment on single-family homes and condos purchased with financing in Q3 of 2022 decreased to $34,975, down 12.5% from $39,980 in the previous quarter, although still up nearly 12% from $31,250 in the third quarter of 2021. The typical down payment in Q3 of this year represented 9.3% of the purchase price, down from 10.2% in the prior quarter, but still up from 8.9% a year earlier.

To read the full report, including more data and methodology, click here.

About Author: Demetria Lester

Demetria C. Lester is a reporter for DS News and MReport magazines with more than eight years of writing experience. She has served as content coordinator and copy editor for the Los Angeles Daily News and the Orange County Register, in addition to 11 other Southern California publications. A former editor-in-chief at Northlake College and staff writer at her alma mater, the University of Texas at Arlington, she has covered events such as the Byron Nelson and Pac-12 Conferences, progressing into her freelance work with the Dallas Wings and D Magazine. Currently located in Dallas, Texas, Lester is an avid jazz lover and likes to read. She can be reached at [email protected].
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