D-FW Area is Seeing a Record Number of Home Mortgages
A record number of Dallas-Fort Worth residents took out home loans in the third quarter. More than 88,000 new home mortgages were recorded in North Texas during the three months ending with September. That’s a 54% jump in home financings from third-quarter 2019, according to a new study by Attom Data Solutions. Nationwide home loan originations were at their highest level in 13 years, thanks to record low mortgage rates, which have fueled a home buying and refinancing binge. More than 3.2 million Americans took out home loans during the quarter.
“The home-loan industry got even busier in the third quarter of 2020, with the housing market still operating as if the recession brought on by the pandemic didn’t exist,” Attom Data’s Todd Teta said in the new report. “Buyers and owners, lured by low mortgage rates, kept lining up for loans at levels not seen in more than a decade. The one difference in the third quarter was that purchase lending beat out refinance activity for the first time in more than a year,” he said. “However, we do cautiously note again, as we have with other recent market reports, that the pandemic and other factors could come together and halt the market boom. In the meantime, the third quarter stands out as another banner quarter for lenders.”
Through the first nine months of 2020, a record 213,791 new home loans have been recorded in the D-FW area, according to Attom Data. In the third quarter, the D-FW area ranked third nationally for home mortgage originations, behind only Los Angeles and New York.
More than 53,000 of the home loans recorded in the D-FW area in the third quarter were for home refinancing, which more than doubled from a year ago. So far in 2020, almost 130,000 area homeowners have refinanced their homes, according to Attom Data.
Home sales by North Texas real estate agents are up 8% through the first 10 months of 2020, with a record of almost 100,000 single-family homes changing hands through the multiple listing service.
Home mortgage rates are down again this week to a nationwide average of about 2.7% for a long-term, fixed-rate home loan. That’s the lowest rate since mortgage giant Freddie Mac began tracking the market in 1971...
