NEWS: U.S. Mortgage Lending Dives 32 Percent in Q1, Fastest Decline in 8 Years

The hectic real estate market for residential properties keeps bringing more and more shocking data. On a recent statistical finding, ATTOM's first-quarter 2022 U.S. Residential Property Mortgage Origination Report, 2.71 million mortgages secured by residential property (1 to 4 units) originated in the first quarter of 2022 in the United States.

"The drop-off in Q1 refinancing activity is no surprise with mortgage rates rising as rapidly as they have," said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence at ATTOM. "But many forecasts expected purchase loans to remain strong in 2022, and even increase in both the number of loans originated and the dollar volume of those loans. The weakness in purchase loan activity shows just how much of an impact the combination of escalating home prices and rising interest rates have had on borrower activity this year."

Some of the main drivers of this decline was the decrease in refinance deals. Also the rising mortgage interest rates, the number of refinance mortgages decreased for the fourth straight quarter while the annual drop was the largest since 2014. As shared by the The World Property Journal on a recent article:

The continued shrinkage in overall residential lending during the first quarter reinforced a stark reversal for the mortgage industry following a near-tripling of activity from early 2019 through early 2021. The first-quarter figures come amid multiple forces that threaten to continue the recent trends, including 30-year mortgage rates that have risen past 5 percent this year, an ongoing tight supply of homes for sale around the country that limits the number of home purchases, rising inflation and other uncertainties surrounding the U.S. economy.