Residential Refinance Mortgages More Than Double in Fourth Quarter 2019

Todd Teta

IRVINE, CA — ATTOM Data Solutions, curator of the nation’s premier property database and first property data provider of Data-as-a-Service (DaaS), released its fourth-quarter 2019 U.S. Residential Property Mortgage Origination Report, which shows that 1.27 million refinance mortgages secured by residential property (1 to 4 units) were originated in the fourth quarter of 2019.

That figure is up 20 percent from the third quarter of 2019 and up 104 percent from the fourth quarter of 2018, to the highest point since the third quarter of 2013.

With interest rates near all-time lows, the refinance mortgages originated in the fourth quarter of 2019 represented an estimated $391.3 billion in total dollar volume, up 19 percent from the previous quarter and up 138 percent from a year ago to the highest level since the first quarter of 2013.

Total residential loan originations rose 40 percent, year-over-year, in the fourth quarter of 2019 to 2.27 million, the highest point since the third quarter of 2016.

  

“The fourth quarter was a banner period for residential mortgages across the United States, as declining interest rates and a strong economy helped spur more than 2 million borrowers to sign on for new or refinanced loans,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer at ATTOM Data Solutions.

 “Refinancing largely drove the trend, with more than twice as many homeowners trading in higher-interest mortgages for cheaper ones than in the same period of 2018.

"These trends could all change when the economic fallout from the Coronavirus outbreak hits. But the last few months of 2019 saw a burst of lending activity not seen in the U.S. housing market for several years.”

For detailed highlights of the report, please contact:

Christine Stricker

949.748.8428

christine.stricker@attomdata.com

Data and Report Licensing:

949.502.8313

datareports@attomdata.com