CFPB report finds that mortgage originations dropped sharply in 2023

CFPB report finds that mortgage originations dropped sharply in 2023

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) annual report on trends in the residential mortgage lending market showed a significant decline in mortgage lending activities in 2023.

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The report said that loan applications and originations dropped by about a third from 2022, with the decline even more prominent in refinancing activity than home purchase. Specifically, single-family refinance originations were down by nearly two-thirds from 2022.

In addition, median total loan costs jumped significantly in 2023 as a higher percentage of borrowers reported having paid discount points than any other year since tracking of the data began.

Among the key findings, the CFPB found:

• The number of loan applications decreased by 30 percent and originations decreased by 32 percent from 2022. Further, the number of refinancings of single-family homes fell by 64 percent.
• The average monthly payment excluding taxes and insurance for borrowers taking out a conventional 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose from $2,045 in December 2022 to $2,295 in December 2023. The increase in monthly payment was driven almost entirely by the rise in mortgage interest rates.
• More than 56 percent of single-family loan originations paid some discount points in 2023, nearly a 13 percent increase from 2022. The median discount points paid for home purchase loans was about $3,000 and for refinance loans was about $3,900.
• The median total loan costs for home purchase loans were about $6,700 in 2023, while for refinance loans the loan cost was over $7,300. Notably, Hispanic and Black borrowers experienced faster increases in the median total loan costs for home purchase loans compared to Asian and non-Hispanic white borrowers.
• Non-depository institutions, such as independent mortgage companies, originated significantly more loans than banks and credit unions. In 2023, independent mortgage companies originated nearly 62 percent of all closed-end home purchase loans and over 64 percent of refinance loans.

The full report, called the 2023 Mortgage Market Activity and Trends, can be found on the CFPB web site.

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