Mortgage lending dropped to a two-year low in the fourth quarter of 2023, but the spring season could reverse this, according to a recent report by ATTOM.
Mortgage lending continued to drop considerably in the fourth quarter of 2023, but a recent report indicates that a turnaround is coming.High home prices, soaring borrowing costs and low housing supply drove lending rates to a two-decade low, with activity down 16.5% from a year earlier and 67.7% from a high point hit in the first quarter of 2021, according to the report by ATTOM. Lenders issued $417.4 billion of residential mortgages in the fourth quarter of 2023, a drop of 14.
5% of home sellers dropped their asking price, the highest share of any February since at least 2015. "There have been two major obstacles for homebuyers over the last year: low inventory and high housing costs," Redfin Economic Research Lead Chen Zhao said. "Now, the first barrier is starting to come down as more supply comes on the market.