There were 3.25 million mortgages secured by residential property originated in the third quarter, according to a report from ATTOM Data Solutions.
ATTOM said this year’s third-quarter figure was up 17 percent from the prior quarter and 45 percent from the third quarter of 2019, to the highest level in 13 years.
The report said home mortgages originated in the third quarter represented an estimated $974.1 billion in total dollar volume, up 20 percent from the second quarter of 2020 and 52 percent from a year ago, to the highest point since 2005.
“The home-loan industry got even busier in the third quarter of 2020, with the housing market still operating as if the recession brought on by the pandemic didn’t exist,” ATTOM Chief Product Officer Todd Teta said in a release. “Buyers and owners, lured by low mortgage rates, kept lining up for loans at levels not seen in more than a decade.”
“The one difference in the third quarter was that purchase lending beat out refinance activity for the first time in more than a year,” Teta said. “However, we do cautiously note again, as we have with other recent market reports, that the pandemic and other factors could come together and halt the market boom. In the meantime, the third quarter stands out as another banner quarter for lenders.”
During the third quarter, lenders issued roughly 1.05 million home-purchase mortgages, up 28 percent from the second quarter and 25 percent from the third quarter of 2019. The dollar amount of purchase loans jumped to $336.3 billion in the third quarter of 2020, a 35 percent increase from the prior quarter and a 36 percent increase from a year ago.
The report found the number of refinance loans went up only 16 percent from the second quarter to the third quarter, to 1.96 million, while the amount refinanced increased 15 percent, to $587.6 billion.
Residential purchase mortgage originations increased from the second to the third quarter in 204 of the 215 metro areas that have a population greater than 200,000 and at least 1,000 total loans (94.9 percent), and increased by at least 25 percent in 115 metro areas (53.5 percent).
ATTOM said the largest quarterly increases were in Springfield, Ill. (up 233.5 percent); Savannah, Ga. (up 158 percent); Barnstable Town, Mass. (up 132.7 percent); Scranton, Pa. (up 85.6 percent) and Bridgeport, Conn. (up 77.5 percent).
Refinance activity increased from the second to the third quarter in 183 of the 215 metropolitan statistical areas analyzed in the report (85.1 percent) and rose by at least 25 percent in 56 metro areas (26 percent).
The largest quarterly increases were in Laredo, Texas (up 73 percent); Clarksville, Tenn. (up 60.4 percent); Scranton, Pa. (up 58.6 percent); Erie, Pa. (up 50.3 percent) and Visalia, Calif. (up 48.8 percent).
Metro areas with at least 1 million people with the biggest increases in refinance activity in the third quarter were Tucson, Ariz. (up 38.4 percent); Virginia Beach, Va. (up 37.8 percent); Richmond, Va. (up 35 percent); Las Vegas (up 32 percent) and San Jose, Calif. (up 31.8 percent).