More than two million (2,087,455) loans secured by residential property (one to four units) were originated in the second quarter, an increase of 15% compared with the first quarter and up nearly 1% from the second quarter of 2017, according to ATTOM Data Solution’s U.S. Residential Property Loan Origination Report.
Of those two million loans, about 926,000 were purchase loans, up 39% compared with the previous quarter and up 1% compared with a year earlier.
About 799,093 of the residential loans originated in the second quarter were refinance loans, down less than 1% from the previous quarter and down 2% from a year earlier to reach the lowest level since the first quarter of 2014.
Nearly 362,000 Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOCs) were originated on residential properties in the second quarter, up 4% from the previous quarter and up 2% from a year earlier to reach the highest level since the third quarter of 2008, a nearly 10-year low.
“Rising mortgage rates are continuing to cool demand for refinance originations, which were down to their lowest level since 2014 – the last time we saw more than six consecutive months with average 30-year fixed mortgage rates above four percent,” says Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions, in a statement. “Meanwhile buyers are upping the ante when it comes to down payments, evidenced by the record-high median down payment for homes purchased in the quarter, and an increasing number of buyers are getting help from co-buyers.”
The median down payment on single family homes and condos purchased with financing in the second quarter was $19,900, up 19% from $16,750 in the first quarter and up 18% compared with $16,925 in the second quarter of 2017 to reach a new record high going back as far data is available – the first quarter of 2000.
The median down payment of $19,900 was 7.6% of the median sales price of the homes purchased with financing during the quarter, up from 6.6% in the previous quarter and up from 6.6% in the second quarter of 2017 to reach the highest level since the third quarter of 2003 – a nearly 15-year high.
Nationwide, 17.6% of all single family home purchases in the second quarter were to co-buyers (multiple, non-married buyers listed on the sales deed), up from 17.4% in the previous quarter.
The average down payment for homes purchased by co-buyers nationwide was $63,117. That’s 51% higher than the average down payment of $41,749 for homes purchased by other homebuyers.
The average co-buyer down payment represented 16.3%, more than double the average down payment percentage of 8.1% for other homebuyers.
The share of Federal Housing Administration loans decreased to 10.2% of all residential property loans originated, down from 10.9% in the first quarter and down from 13.5% a year earlier to the lowest share since the first quarter of 2008 – a more than 10-year low.