Top 10 metros where mortgage originations are on the rise

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1. U.S. metros where purchase-mortgage originations are on the rise

ATTOM’s Q2 2023 U.S. Residential Property Mortgage Origination Report shows that the total number of mortgages secured by residential property in the U.S. increased to 1.56 million in Q2 2023, a 21% quarterly increase and the biggest jump in two years.

However, the total is still down 38% from the previous year. The turnaround resulted from increases in purchase, refinance, and home-equity lending. Below are the top 10 metros with the greatest quarterly increases:

2. Catch up quick

📈 Mortgage credit availability increased in August according to the Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), a report from the MBA. The MCAI rose by 0.3 percent to 96.6 in August. (LINK)

🏛️ FHFA gives more flexibility to credit modernization timeline. The FHFA said it now expects that "the implementation date for this bi-merge requirement will occur later than the first quarter 2024, as was initially proposed." (NMP)

🧑‍🏫 The housing affordability crisis is a hidden reason your kid doesn’t have a teacher—stunning report shows only 12% can afford homes near work. (Fortune)

📖 It’s Elon Musk’s biography publication day. ‘He is driven by demons’: biographer Walter Isaacson said. The writer tells what he learnt during two years spent with ‘total access’ to the tech tycoon. (Financial Times)

3. 39% of homeowners are willing to rent out their homes

To offset rising expenses, 39% of homeowners would consider renting part of their primary home. That’s according to Realtor.com’s latest survey of homeowner trends and preferences. Here’s what else they discovered:

• Younger generations have the most experience and interest in renting

• 74% of Gen Z and 66% of Millennials have rented out part of their home or are considering doing it

• 50% of Northeastern homeowners and 42% of Western homeowners are open to renting, clearly due to the high costs of living in those areas

• 59.8% of respondents said they would consider renting out their home at some point in the future

4. Truist plans 'sizable' job cuts to save $300 mln in costs

Truist plans to make “sizable reductions” to its workforce over the next three quarters, as the bank embarks on a cost savings program aimed at shaving $750 million off the bank’s gross costs over the next 12 to 18 months, CEO Bill Rogers said Monday.

The job cuts alone are expected to save the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank roughly $300 million annually, according to a presentation Rogers and CFO Mike Maguire gave during the Barclays Global Financial Services Conference. The bank expects the larger cost savings program will trim expense growth from this year’s estimated 7% to 1% in 2024.

The executives did not elaborate on the size or geographic locations associated with the planned job cuts.

5. 40% of Gen Zers say they are working side hustles to save for a down payment

To help subdue the impact of higher mortgage rates and spiked home prices, millennials and Gen Z prospective homebuyers have turned toward building extra income streams. In fact, two in five Gen Zers and millennials are working side hustles to save for down payments, according to a new Redfin study released last week.

“Buying a home often makes more financial sense than renting if you can afford a down payment and monthly mortgage because you’re building equity,” Redfin deputy chief economist Taylor Marr said in a statement. But some people “simply don’t have the money for a down payment—a situation that has become increasingly common due to rising mortgage rates and elevated home prices.”

☀️ See you on Friday!

Later today… Mortgage applications data will be released at 7.00 a.m. followed by US CPI at 8.30 a.m.

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