New mortgage activity in Hartford region beating many U.S. cities: study

Greater Hartford saw one of the biggest increases in the country for new mortgages in the third quarter, with the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates to provide a psychological boost for borrowers that they will be able to refinance down the road.

Nationally, mortgage originations rose 1.9 percent in the third quarter from three months earlier, according to Attom, an Irvine, Calif.-based firm that tracks mortgage activity. It marked the first time in three years that U.S. mortgage originations had risen in two consecutive quarters, dating back to the boom real estate market during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the mid-September Fed cut, mortgage rates have remained stubbornly high, reflecting rates on 10-year treasury bills that banks include in their investment portfolios. Freddie Mac calculated an average 30-year mortgage rate of 6.84 percent last week, a slight increase from the week before. Still, Attom tracked a 6.9 percent increase in mortgage rollovers as borrowers sought new loans at lower interest rates for existing mortgage debt.

"The latest increase, small as it was, likely came mainly from homeowners trading higher-rate loans they got in 2021 and 2022 for cheaper mortgages resulting from declining mortgage rates," Attom CEO Rob Barber said in prepared comments accompanying the report. "But it looked like the third-quarter rate dip wasn't as helpful for purchase lending as buyers kept facing elevated prices and low supplies of properties for sale."

The metropolitan Hartford region ranked fifth for originations on the Attom report among population centers with at least a million people, with a 12.7 percent increase in lending activity.

That was driven in part by home-equity lines of credit, with the Hartford area ranking second nationally on that front among larger population centers, with a 29.5 percent gain.

Across all populations, new mortgages rose 78.6 percent in Anchorage, Alaska, the top gain in the United States. Rochester, New York, led larger cities with a 20.1 percent gain.

Hartford County sales were flat in the third quarter compared to a year earlier, according to Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties. In mid-November, the Greater Hartford Association of Realtors reported a 13.7 percent increase in new listings in October compared to a year earlier.

"An increase in inventory is a welcome sign, giving buyers more options," Holly Callanan, CEO of the Greater Hartford Association of Realtors, said in written comments. "It's still a competitive market even as sales slow down, which is typical for this time of year."