During the second month of this year, the preliminary volume of home loans that were closed was lower than any month in the last 16 years.
For just the month of February, U.S. mortgage bankers originated
330,552 residential loans with an aggregate principal balance of $89.987 billion.
That turned out to be the slowest month for home lenders since February 2001, when there were 384,386 mortgages funded for $65.870 billion.
The statistics were provided to Mortgage Daily by ATTOM
Data Solutions, which noted that the figures are subject to revision as more data rolls in.
Business retreated from the previous month, when mortgage production came to an upwardly revised 432,542 loans for $115.568 billion.
Production sank from the same month last year, when lenders closed 462,663 loans for $124.285 billion.
For the first-two months of 2017, originators have generated
763,094 loan closings for $205.555 billion.
Loans to finance a home purchase accounted for
$38.469 billion of the latest activity, tumbling from $47.440 billion in January and $48.753 billion in February 2016.
February 2017 volume also included $51.488 billion in refinance production, dropping from $68.079 billion a month earlier and $75.772 billion a year earlier.
