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MortgagePoint » Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 46 July 2025 J O U R N A L Lending/Originations SNAPSHOT: Q1 MORTGAGE ORIGINATION REPORT I n Q1 2025, 1.4 million mortgages were secured by residential property (1-4 units) in the U.S., according to AT- TOM's Q1 2025 U.S. Residential Property Mortgage Origination Report. As the number of new loans continues to de- cline, that represented an approximate 14% drop from the previous quarter. New home financing arrangements have fallen back below pre-pandemic levels after reaching a recent peak of about 4.2 million loans each quarter in early 2021. An estimated 20% decline in home purchase loans, which went from 738,675 in Q4 2024 to 593,111 in Q1 2025, was the main cause of the most recent decline. In the same quarter, home equity credit lines decreased 5% to 260,267, while the number of residential property refinances decreased by 12% to 580,170. "The red-hot housing market we've seen over the last few years meant that most home loans were going toward new purchases, but that appears to be changing," said Rob Barber, CEO at AT- TOM. "Rather than borrowing money to buy a new property, the data shows homeowners are increasingly looking to restructure their existing mortgages or borrow equity from their homes to cover other expenses." From $582 billion in Q4 2024 to $478 billion in Q1 2025, the total dollar value of loans decreased by 18%, reflecting a drop in both the average loan amount and the number of borrowers. This is partly because the composition of the credit market is changing. Home pur- chase loans, which made up over half of all mortgages as recently as the fall of 2023, now make up 41.4% of the market, a decrease of 2.8 percentage points from Q4 2024. In the meantime, the share of home equity line of credit and mortgage refinance deals—which are typically smaller—has increased to 18.2% and 40.5% of the market, respectively. "If the current trend continues, mortgage refinancing deals will soon make up the biggest share of the home loan market," Barber said. Quarterly Refis Slip but Uphold Steady Market Share In Q1 2025, there were 580,170 mortgage refinance loans nationwide, a 12.2% decrease from 661,067 in Q4 2024. However, the number of refinance loans increased 16.1% from the previous year. In ATTOM's survey, approximately 82.9% (160) of the 193 metro areas saw a decline in the number of refinanced mortgages from quarter-to-quarter. The metro areas with the biggest quarterly declines in refinancings were: 1. San Jose, CA (-41.6%) 2. Reno, NV (-38%) 3. Bend, OR (-35.1%) 4. San Francisco, CA (-34.2%) 5. Huntsville, AL (-33.8%) The metro areas with the largest increase in refinancings compared to Q4 2024 were: 1. Lubbock, Texas (+70.4%) 2. North Port-Sarasota, FL (+52.6%) 3. McAllen, Texas (+49%) 4. Brownsville, Texas (+48.3%) 5. Asheville, NC (+46.7%) The metro regions with populations over one million that experienced the largest quarterly fall in refinance packag- es, aside from San Jose and San Francisco, were: St. Louis (-29.9%); Raleigh, NC (-24.6%); and Boston (-23.7%). Only three of those biggest metro ar- eas experienced an increase in mortgage refinances between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025: Orlando, Florida (+1.6%), Miami (+5%), and Tampa, FL (+39.8%).