December 2017 – Year End Mortgage Market Share Report

December, 2017

I always look forward to completing the year end Mortgage Market Share Report. It affords me the opportunity to do some apples to apples comparisons on the market and our business.

The 2017 Monroe County purchase market was virtually identical to 2016. The overall market continued to move along at a ten year high. (deed chart page 7) Digging deeper though, I found that sales of property that would be the buyer?s primary residence actually fell by over five percent. (chart page 15) I suspect that this decline is a result of the continued historically low inventory of homes on the market.

Other sales, which would be primarily investment, commercial and vacant land, increased almost 11% Last year was this segment?s best performance since sales disclosure data became available. (chart page 16). When I examined the specific data, it appeared to me there were more lot transactions than in previous years. Also, the inventory problem may not be as pronounced in the investment property sector.

Mortgage originations in the $50K to $500K category followed the residential side of the market, declining at a seven percent clip. (mortgage chart page 7) Loans in the conforming amount category showed a similar decline. (Charts pages 10 & 11)

All in all, 2017 was a great year, and I expect that to continue in 2018. While the inventory shortage is no doubt frustrating to people, I think this continued supply and demand imbalance affords our market a measure of protection against higher interest rates and the effect of tax law changes.

Our team?s performance improved in December as our business volume approached seasonal lows. Our closing team provided closing statements two or more days prior to closing in 94% of our closings. Our title team?s average turn time on Monroe County orders was 2.72 days. And we helped nearly 300 people buy, sell or refinance their properties.

Happy New Year!

~ John Bethell