CLEVELAND — The housing market is still hot, but banks aren't handing out home loans quite as quickly.
According to Attom Data Solutions, mortgage lending dropped at the end of 2021 at the fastest pace in almost three years. The drop-offs include all three categories of conventional loans; purchasing, refinancing and home equity.
Though lenders issued $1.06 trillion worth of mortgages in the fourth quarter of 2021, Attom data shows the number suffered 9% quarterly and 7% annually. Yet, some cities seem to defy these stats, including Cleveland. Among cities with a population of at least one million, Cleveland reported slight increases in home equity lines of credit and total mortgages. The city's biggest jump was seen with refinancing, which was up 10% from the third to the fourth quarter of 2021.
“I think with inflation, with the war, with both the pandemic and just the uncertainty of everything, I think putting it in real estate is where a lot of people feel most safe at this moment,” said Greg Erlanger of Keller Williams Citywide.
Attom officials say the decline of business in the residential mortgage industry may not be temporary, but the lack of housing supply does play a part in this.
“It's a very, very short supply, causing prices to go up,” said Erlanger.
Though experts say the housing market boom is not coming to an end, Attom officials say interest rates are likely to climb this year.
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