First-lien mortgage originations totaled $1.82 trillion in 2015, a 43% increase from the previous year, according to the March 2016 Equifax National Consumer Credit Trends Report. This happened in spite of lenders not loosening underwriting criteria, the credit repository said.
The total number of new first mortgages also grew 31.6% to 7.71 million, Equifax noted in a news release Tuesday. Key concerns related to the continued gains in this area beyond low interest rates include consumer confidence and employment gains,
The total number of new home equity installment loans rose 791,000 from 2014 to its highest level in more than seven years. The total balance of new loans of this type was $26.5 billion, 20.8% higher than the year prior.
The total credit limits of new home equity lines of credit originated in 2015 was $146 billion, which represents a 19.7% increase from the previous year.
Equifax also noted that first-home lending to borrowers with subprime credit below a risk score of 620 increased, with balances rising 41.3% to $59.7 billion and the number of loans growing by 366,900 or 25.2%.
"We saw a nice jump in mortgage lending in 2015 that was driven by both rising home-purchase activity and solid refinancing volumes," said Crews Cutts. "What we are not seeing is any meaningful loosening of underwriting, at least with respect to credit scores."
Roughly 90% of first-mortgage borrowers had a score in excess of 646 during the fourth quarter of 2014, she said, which is basically the same level seen for the past three years.
