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MortgagePoint » Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 76 J O U R N A L July 2023 since the second quarter of 2014, as higher mortgage rates are dampening mortgage application activity. Purchase applications were down 6.9% during the last week of May, while refinance applications dropped 11% after seasonal ad- justment. Due to seasonality in the housing market, mortgage originations will likely increase in the second quarter, but full-year 2023 originations will almost certainly be below 2022 levels. Still, mortgage performance remains strong, especially when compared to other types of credit. According to data from Transunion, the share of loans 60 days or more past due fell 0.01 percentage points from Q1 2021 to Q1 2023 for mortgages, while it increased by 0.36 percentage points for au- tos, 0.80 percentage points for Bankcards and 1.1 percentage points for unsecured personal loans over the same period. "Overall credit performance remains solid for higher credit quality borrowers, but that is in an economy with unemployment rates below 4%," Freddie Mac said in their report. "If the labor market outlook darkens, mortgage performance could weaken, and rising delinquency rates spread to higher credit quality borrowers." Looking ahead, Freddie Mac says the future of the housing and mortgage markets remains uncertain; while Freddie Mac is not forecasting a recession in their baseline outlook rather a slowdown in growth and an uptick in unemployment as the most likely scenario. MIDWEST TOPS LIST OF MOST POPULAR CITIES FOR RENTERS A s high home prices and the peak rental season bring out more renters looking for apartments, renting has become the new buying, according to Rent- Cafe's June Rental Activity Report. The new reports find that the Midwest is the most popular region for renters, followed by the South. Overall, the South claims 12 en- tries in our June ranking—the most out of all regions. The Midwest follows with 10 spots, including the top four. Atlanta (#7) goes on as the highest-ranking city in the South for the third consecutive month. Kansas City, Missouri, is June's most de- sired city by renters, maintaining its top spot from last month. Neighboring Overland Park, Kansas, comes next, followed by Minneapolis in third place. Apartment listings in these cities saw the most engagement this month on rentcafe.com due to high rates of rental properties saved to favorites, personalized searches, scarce unit availability, and overall high listing views. Nearly half of this month's most sought-after top 30 cities are located in the South, after six new locations in the region entered our ranking. For example, North Carolina tech hub Charlotte made it to the 20th spot, while neighboring college town Greensboro is this month's 30th most in-de- mand city for renters. Further north along the East Coast, New York City's most affordable borough, the Bronx, jumped three more places to #14 in this month's ranking. At the same time, Queens, New York; Philadelphia; and Chicago all fell a few positions but are still among the nation's most sought-after places by renters in June. South Claims Most Cities in Top 30 but Midwest Takes Highest Spots The top 30 most sought-after cities by renters in our June rental activity report include 12 cities in the South after a wave of new entries from the region. But the Midwest dominates the top five with Kansas City, Overland Park, Minneapolis, and Cincinnati occupying the first four spots. Another Midwestern city on our list is Indianapolis, which jumped an impressive 13 spots to #13. More precisely, views of apartment listings in the city increased by 13% compared to last June. At the same time, Indianapolis rentals on rentcafe.com became more popular this month as apartment hunt- ers saved 25% more personalized searches. However, what's more impressive is that renters favorited seven times more properties than a year ago, showing more determination to move to a new place in the city. To the north, Chicago dropped sev- en spots to #22 but nevertheless remains sought-after by renters. Specifically, there were 7% fewer listings available this month versus last June as the number of apartments added to renters' favorites list nearly tripled. Madison, Wisconsin (#23), and Columbus, Ohio (#24), complete the list of Midwestern hubs in the top 30. Meanwhile, the Bronx is the Northeast's highest-ranking location at #14 after climbing three spots since last month. New York City's most affordable borough saw an impressive