Residential Mortgages Experience Weaker Demand in First Quarter

2025-05-13T09:18:21-05:00

Overall demand for residential mortgages was weaker while lending standards for most types of residential mortgages were essentially unchanged1 according to the Federal Reserve Board’s April 2025 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS).  For commercial real estate (CRE) loans, lending standards for construction & development were moderately tighter, while demand was modestly weaker.  However, for multifamily loans within the CRE category, lending conditions and demand were essentially unchanged for the second consecutive quarter.  The Federal Reserve left its monetary policy stance (i.e., Federal Funds rate) unchanged during its most recent meeting stating that the Fed “is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate and judges that the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen.”  Nevertheless, NAHB is maintaining its forecast for interest rate cuts in the second half of 2025. Residential Mortgages In the first quarter of 2025, only one of seven residential mortgage loan categories saw a slight easing in lending conditions, as evidenced by a positive2 value for GSE-eligible loans, which was +3.2 in the first quarter of 2025.  Subprime and government loans both recorded a neutral net easing index (i.e., 0) while the other four categories (Non-QM jumbo; Non-QM non-jumbo; QM non-jumbo, non-GSE-eligible; QM jumbo) were negative, representing tightening conditions.  The Federal Reserve classifies any net easing index between -5 and +5 as “essentially unchanged,” however.  By this definition, lending standards changed significantly for only one category of residential mortgages: non-QM jumbo (-7.5). All residential mortgage loan categories reported significantly weaker demand in the first quarter of 2025, except for QM-jumbo which was essentially unchanged.  The net percentage of banks reporting stronger demand for most of the residential mortgage loan categories has been negative since mid-2022. Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Loans Across CRE loan categories, construction & development loans recorded a net easing index of -11.1 for the first quarter of 2025, indicating tightening of credit conditions.  For multifamily loans, the net easing index was -1.6, or essentially unchanged. Both categories of  CRE loans show at least three consecutive years of tightening lending conditions (i.e., net easing indexes below zero).  However, the tightening has become less pronounced recently—especially for multifamily, with its net easing index rising (i.e., becoming less negative) for six straight quarters. The net percentage of banks reporting stronger demand was -6.3% for construction & development loans and -1.6% for multifamily loans, the negative numbers indicating weakening demand.  Like the trend for lending conditions, demand for CRE loans has become less negative recently, especially for multifamily loans  where the net percentage of banks reporting stronger demand has risen (i.e., become less negative) for six consecutive quarters. The Federal Reserve uses the following descriptors when analyzing results from the survey which will be used, in principle, within this blog post as well: – “Remained basically unchanged” means that the change or actual reading is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 5 percent. – “Modest” means that the change or actual reading is greater than 5 and less than or equal to 10 percent. – “Moderate” means that the change or actual reading is greater than 10 and less than or equal to 20 percent. – “Significant” means that the change or actual reading is greater than 20 and less than or equal to 50 percent. – “Major” means that the change or actual reading is greater than or equal to 50 percent.A value above zero (i.e., positive) indicates that lending conditions are easing while a value below zero (i.e., negative) indicates that lending conditions are tightening. Discover more from Eye On Housing Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Residential Mortgages Experience Weaker Demand in First Quarter2025-05-13T09:18:21-05:00

Weaker Demand for Residential Mortgages Persists

2025-02-12T07:48:48-06:00

Lending standards for residential mortgages were essentially unchanged1 across most categories, while overall demand for most residential mortgages was weaker according to the Federal Reserve Board’s January 2025 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS).  Examining lending conditions for commercial real estate (CRE) loans, construction & development loans were modestly tighter, while demand was modestly weaker.  However, for multifamily properties loans within the CRE category, lending conditions and demand were essentially unchanged for the quarter.  With recent commentary from the Federal Reserve citing current policy as “meaningfully restrictive”, inflation remaining sticky, and uncertainty caused by current trade policy, NAHB is forecasting any potential cuts (if any) to the federal funds rate to occur in the latter half of 2025. Residential Mortgages The Federal Reserve classifies any loan category achieving a value between -5 and +5 as “essentially unchanged.”  Five of seven residential mortgage loan categories saw a slight easing in lending conditions, as evidenced by their positive easing index2 values, ranging from +1.8 to +4.0, in the fourth quarter of 2024.  That marks the highest number of residential mortgage loan categories showing easing since the Federal Reserve started raising interest rates back in first quarter of 2022.  Subprime and Non-QM jumbo loans were the only categories that were negative for the fourth quarter of 2024, representing tightening conditions.   All residential mortgage loan categories reported at least modestly weaker demand in the fourth quarter of 2024, except for Non-QM jumbo which was essentially unchanged.  Subprime loans have had weaker demand for the past 18 consecutive quarters, which is the longest weak streak among all residential mortgage loan categories and recorded the lowest net percentage (-45.5%) in the quarter. Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Loans Across CRE loan categories, construction & development loans recorded a net easing index value of -9.5 for the fourth quarter of 2024.  As for the multifamily loan category, its net easing index value was -3.2, or essentially unchanged.  For overall CRE loans, results show at least 11 consecutive quarters of tightening lending conditions.  However, the tightening was less pronounced than in recent quarters; the net easing index values for both categories were the closest they have been to neutral (i.e., 0) since the first quarter 2022. The net percentage of banks reporting stronger demand for construction & development loans was -6.3% and –4.8% for multifamily.  Although weaker demand has continued for the past 10 consecutive quarters for both CRE loan categories, the net percentages are approaching neutral. For the fourth quarter of 2024, the net indices reached their highest levels in over two years. The Federal Reserve uses the following descriptors when analyzing results from the survey which will be used, in principle, within this blog post as well: – “Remained basically unchanged” means that the change or actual reading is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 5 percent. – “Modest” means that the change or actual reading is greater than 5 and less than or equal to 10 percent. – “Moderate” means that the change or actual reading is greater than 10 and less than or equal to 20 percent. – “Significant” means that the change or actual reading is greater than 20 and less than or equal to 50 percent. – “Major” means that the change or actual reading is greater than or equal to 50 percent.A value above zero (i.e., positive) indicates that lending conditions are easing while a value below zero (i.e., negative) indicates that lending conditions are tightening. Discover more from Eye On Housing Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Weaker Demand for Residential Mortgages Persists2025-02-12T07:48:48-06:00

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