California Mortgage Applications Skyrocket 77 Percent

May 28, 2020

Aerial view of homes in California. Credit: iStock.com/ThomasDeWever

Director of Events

California's housing industry looks to be picking up once again, as house buying has resumed after taking a huge hit in April. A report outlines the drastic change in mortgage loan application activity for California, which is nearing numbers from its 2019 pace once again.

"In a three-week period ended April 3, California’s application pace fell by 46%. So in early April, loan applications ran 47.5% below the previous year’s pace," according to The Mercury News. "Applications have increased for seven consecutive weeks, including an 11.6% jump for the week ended May 22. That put loan applications off just 1.7% below the year-ago pace. It adds up to an eye-catching 77% surge in applications off of the pandemic’s bottom in early April."

The report does note that this could be signs of a revived market, or, delayed activity back on pace. Low mortgage rates are attractive for a big market like California, which happens to have five metros listed in Investopedia's "Top 10 Most Expensive Cities In The U.S." It has also remained one of the states with the most competitive housing markets. While activity may have stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it looks to be moving in the right direction.

"Once July comes around, the June’s housing data will be more reflective of where we are at on housing. We should work from that month on. But March, April and May data is simply too wild due to lockdown protocols," said Logan Mohtashami, a housing data analyst from Irvine, according to the report.

Read more about California's mortgage industry rebound.

About the author

Navi Persaud

Director of Events

Navi Persaud is Director of Events at NMP.

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May 28, 2020

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