More than 1.9 million (1,903,364) loans secured by residential property (1 to 4 units) were originated in Q4 2017, down 20% from the previous quarter and down 19% from a year earlier, according to ATTOM Data Solutions Q4 2017 U.S. Residential Property Loan Origination Report.
In the quarter:
· 818,158 of the residential loans originated in Q4 2017 were refinance loans, down 17% from the previous quarter and down 34% from a year ago.
· 791,637 of the residential loans originated in Q4 2017 were purchase loans, down 22% from the previous quarter and down 1% from a year ago.
· 293,570 Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOCs) were originated on residential properties in Q4 2017, down 25% from a nine-year high in the previous quarter and down 7% from a year ago.
“The falloff in refinance originations continued for the third straight quarter, but purchase originations held steady compared to a year ago despite ballooning down payment amounts that make it more difficult for first-time home buyers to compete — as evidenced by the three-year low in the share of FHA buyers,” said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions. “And while the rise in construction loans in part reflects homeowners reconstructing in the wake of hurricane Harvey in southeast Texas, the widespread rise in construction loans in other parts of the country indicates that more homeowners are staying put and remodeling rather than trying to move up into another home that comes with a big down payment and probably a higher mortgage interest rate.”
The median down payment on single family homes and condos purchased with financing in Q4 2017 was $18,000, down from a record high $19,100 in the previous quarter but up 20% from $14,950 in Q4 2016.
The median down payment of $18,000 was 7.1% of the median sales price of the homes purchased with financing during the quarter, down from a four-year high OF 7.3% in the previous quarter but still up from 6.2% in Q4 2016.
“The median down payment in the greater Seattle area of 14.1% is twice the national average and continuing to rise,” said Matthew Gardner, chief economist at Windermere Real Estate covering Seattle. “This is good news for homeowners in our market as it provides them with a layer of protection should home prices see a downturn in the future.”
Among 143 metropolitan statistical areas analyzed for down payments, those with the biggest median down payments were San Jose, California ($268,000); San Francisco, California ($174,500); Santa Rosa, California ($123,450); Los Angeles, California ($119,800); and Ventura, California ($107,000).
Residential loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) accounted for 12.0% of all residential property loans originated in Q4 2017, down from 12.9% in the previous quarter and down from 12.3% a year ago to the lowest share since Q4 2014 — a three-year low.
Residential loans backed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) accounted for 6.6% of all residential property loans originated in Q4 2017, unchanged from the previous quarter but down from 7.6% in Q4 2016.
A total of 29,357 construction loans backed by residential real estate (1 to 4 units) were originated in Q4 2017, up 12% from the previous quarter and up 33% from a year ago to the highest level since Q3 2015 — a more than two-year high. Construction loans are those that finance improvements to real estate.
Houston documented the most residential construction loan originations among 42 metropolitan statistical areas analyzed for construction loan data in the report, with 4,241 originated in Q4 2017 — up 345% from a year ago to an all-time high as far back as data was available for the report, Q1 2006. Residential construction loan originations also spiked in the Texas metros of Beaumont-Port Arthur (up 2,135%); El Paso (up 787%); and Corpus Christi (up 126%).
Other metro areas with increases in residential construction loan originations included Kansas City (up 104%); San Francisco, California (up 80%); San Diego, California (up 57%); Jacksonville, Florida (up 53%); and Orlando, Florida (up 41%).
Among the 120 metropolitan statistical areas analyzed in the report, those with the biggest year-over-year decrease in loan origination volume in Q4 2017 were Santa Rosa, California (down 47%); San Jose, California (down 39%); San Luis Obispo, California (down 38%); Denver, Colorado (down 37%); and Boulder, Colorado(down 37%).
Only eight of the 120 metropolitan statistical areas analyzed in the report posted a year-over-year increase in total loan originations in Q4 2017: Lexington, Kentucky (up 40%); Raleigh, North Carolina (up 37%); Huntington, West Virginia (up 27%); Asheville, North Carolina (up 13%); Davenport, Iowa (up 7%); Memphis, Tennessee (up 4%); Dayton, Ohio (up 3%); and Charleston, South Carolina (up 2%).
The table below shows the top 16 mortgage originators in 2017 based on dollar volume of loans. This includes all lenders with at least $10 billion in total loan origination volume for the year.
Number of Residential Loans in 2017 | Dollar Volume | |||||
| Lender | Purchase | Refi | Grand Total | Purchase | Refi | Total |
| Wells Fargo | 100,485 | 145,158 | 245,643 | $40,121,731,533 | $40,290,454,380 | $80,412,185,913 |
| Quicken Loans | 76,012 | 213,337 | 289,349 | $18,001,750,030 | $46,528,129,721 | $64,529,879,751 |
| Chase Bank | 41,044 | 82,136 | 123,180 | $17,220,089,771 | $23,833,616,199 | $41,053,705,969 |
| Bank of America | 33,397 | 49,119 | 82,516 | $16,237,197,861 | $17,674,000,737 | $33,911,198,598 |
| Caliber Home Loans | 57,835 | 27,218 | 85,053 | $16,156,218,534 | $7,669,143,958 | $23,825,362,491 |
| LoanDepot | 23,987 | 64,451 | 88,438 | $7,457,287,764 | $15,973,780,207 | $23,431,067,971 |
| United Wholesale Mortgage | 43,658 | 32,174 | 75,832 | $12,111,744,067 | $9,414,773,899 | $21,526,517,966 |
| US Bank | 21,414 | 33,072 | 54,486 | $7,122,254,762 | $9,792,142,102 | $16,914,396,864 |
| Fairway | 48,894 | 13,015 | 61,909 | $12,182,481,158 | $3,463,672,285 | $15,646,153,443 |
| Guaranteed Rate | 35,284 | 13,614 | 48,898 | $10,865,731,846 | $4,373,120,993 | $15,238,852,839 |
| Finance of America | 27,809 | 15,989 | 43,798 | $8,017,288,752 | $5,682,991,965 | $13,700,280,717 |
| Navy FCU | 25,402 | 19,495 | 44,897 | $7,292,909,374 | $5,021,614,974 | $12,314,524,348 |
| Guild Mortgage | 34,321 | 10,558 | 44,879 | $9,018,556,214 | $2,684,348,666 | $11,702,904,880 |
| Freedom Mortgage | 13,162 | 37,781 | 50,943 | $3,182,783,337 | $7,985,655,820 | $11,168,439,157 |
| USAA | 29,207 | 16,075 | 45,282 | $7,489,687,931 | $3,470,130,767 | $10,959,818,697 |
| Prime Lending | 32,126 | 9,010 | 41,136 | $7,912,031,508 | $2,327,450,669 | $10,239,482,178 |
