ATTOM’s Q4 2024 U.S. Residential Property Mortgage Origination Report shows that in the fourth quarter, 1.64 million mortgages were issued for residential properties (ranging from one to four units) across the United States. This marked a 3% decline from the previous quarter but a 14% increase compared to the same period last year.
WATCH: ATTOM #FiguresFriday – Top 10 U.S. Metros with Refinance Mortgage Originations on the Rise
According to the report, the quarterly decline—following increases earlier in 2024—coincided with rising mortgage rates, a limited supply of homes for sale near five-year lows, and the typical slowdown in the fall home-buying season. Despite the year-over-year rise in lending activity, the total number of home mortgages issued in the fourth quarter remained nearly two-thirds below the peak reached in 2021.
ATTOM’s Q4 2024 mortgage origination report stated that the latest trend stemmed from declines in both purchase and home-equity lending, partially offset by a rise in mortgage refinancing. Loans for home purchases dropped 7.5% from the third to the fourth quarter of 2024, falling to approximately 732,000. Home equity credit lines also declined, down 11.6% to around 267,000. Meanwhile, mortgage refinances continued to climb for the third straight quarter, rising 6.4% to about 642,000.
Also, according to ATTOM’s latest report, in monetary terms, lenders issued $568 billion in residential mortgages during the fourth quarter of 2024, reflecting a 1.4% increase from the previous quarter and a 26.3% jump from the same period in 2023.
ATTOM’s fourth-quarter mortgage origination analysis reported that overall, lending activity reflected a mix of quarterly declines and annual gains across most U.S. metropolitan areas with sufficient data for analysis. Among the 202 metro areas with populations of at least 200,000 and a minimum of 1,000 residential mortgages issued between October and December 2024, lending fell from the third to the fourth quarter in 132 markets (65.3%). However, compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, activity remained higher in 175 metros (86.6%).
The analysis also revealed that despite rising interest rates in the fourth quarter of 2024, lenders issued 641,918 residential refinance mortgages, up from 603,324 in the previous quarter and 28.2% higher than the 500,877 recorded in the same period of 2023. This marked the third consecutive quarterly increase, pushing refinance activity to its highest level since mid-2022.
In this post, we dive into the data from ATTOM’s latest mortgage origination report, highlighting the top 10 U.S. metros with the largest quarterly increases in refinance mortgage originations for Q4 2024, along with the loan numbers driving that growth.
Those top markets include:
- Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Beaufort, SC
- Quarterly Increase in Refinance Mortgage Originations: 56.4 percent
- Count of Q3 2024 Refinance Mortgage Originations: 369
- Count of Q4 2024 Refinance Mortgage Originations: 577
- Wilmington, NC
- Quarterly Increase in Refinance Mortgage Originations: 48.9 percent
- Count of Q3 2024 Refinance Mortgage Originations: 476
- Count of Q4 2024 Refinance Mortgage Originations: 709
- San Jose, CA
- Quarterly increase in Refinance Mortgage Originations: 43.8 percent
- Count of Q3 2024 Refinance Mortgage Originations: 1,637
- Count of Q4 2024 Refinance Mortgage Originations: 2,354
- Buffalo, NY
- Quarterly Increase in Refinance Mortgage Originations: 41.9 percent
- Count of Q3 2024 Refinance Mortgage Originations: 1,120
- Count of Q4 2024 Refinance Mortgage Originations: 1,589
- San Francisco, CA
- Quarterly Increase in Refinance Mortgage Originations: 35.4 percent
- Count of Q3 2024 Refinance Mortgage Originations: 4,964
- Count of Q4 2024 Refinance Mortgage Originations: 6,719
- Fort Collins, CO
- Quarterly Increase in Refinance Mortgage Originations: 35.5 percent
- Count of Q3 2024 Refinance Mortgage Originations: 541
- Count of Q4 2024 Refinance Mortgage Originations: 732
- Charleston, SC
- Quarterly Increase in Refinance Mortgage Originations: 34.1 percent
- Count of Q3 2024 Refinance Mortgage Originations: 1,764
- Count of Q4 2024 Refinance Mortgage Originations: 2,336
- Myrtle Beach, SC
- Quarterly Increase in Refinance Mortgage Originations: 32.7 percent
- Count of Q3 2024 Refinance Mortgage Originations: 1,360
- Count of Q4 2024 Refinance Mortgage Originations: 1,805
- Lansing, MI
- Quarterly Increase in Refinance Mortgage Originations: 30.5 percent
- Count of Q3 2024 Refinance Mortgage Originations: 807
- Count of Q4 2024 Refinance Mortgage Originations: 1,053
- Ellkhart, IN
- Quarterly Increase in Refinance Mortgage Originations: 30.2 percent
- Count of Q3 2024 Refinance Mortgage Originations: 338
- Count of Q4 2024 Refinance Mortgage Originations: 440
Want to learn more about mortgage origination trends in your area? Contact us to find out how!
Written by: Megan Hunt