According to the latest Originations Market Monitor report from Black Knight Inc., analyzing mortgage origination data through the end of June 2023, rate lock activity fell across the board, edging lower by 1% overall on a month-to-month basis, with purchase locks down a scant 0.6%. Cash-out refinances dropped 1.4% and rate/term refinance locks were off by almost 17%. The month’s purchase locks accounted for 88.4% of locks, the highest share on record. Nevertheless, purchase lock counts were down 31% year over year and 29% compared with pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
“As we noted in our most recent Mortgage Monitor report, the housing market has been reheating as we approach the traditional tail end of the homebuying season,” says Andy Walden, vice president of enterprise research and strategy at Black Knight.
“What’s clear is that continued economic uncertainty, tightening credit and affordability concerns have all helped to skew the market toward higher-credit borrowers,” he adds. “In fact, the average credit score among purchase locks hit a record high in June. Likewise, the average purchase price rising for the seventh straight month, while the average loan amount remained flat, suggests lower loan-to-value ratios as well.”
The Originations Market Monitor provides high-level origination metrics for the U.S. and the top 20 metropolitan statistical areas by share of total origination volume.
Image by Nattanan Kanchanaprat from Pixabay.
