Amid improving macroeconomic conditions, residential lending continued to increase in 2016, based on the recently released 2016 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data. The number of first-lien loan originations for the purchase of one-to-four unit properties intended for owner occupancy rose to 3.46 million in 2016, a 10 percent increase from 3.12 million in 2015. Although residential lending has been growing at double-digit rates since 2012, loan originations in 2016 were only at three-fourths of the peak level of 4.83 million in 2005. Lending has not fully recovered due to the interplay of factors relating to the borrower’s capacity to obtain a mortgage, tighter lending standards, and the faster appreciation of housing prices relative to income growth amid a lack of housing supply. An increasing share of originations has gone to high income earners.
