Housing finance at a glance - Feb 2019

The Urban Institute's Housing Finance Policy Center February 2019 Chart Book is out.  Some thoughts...

• A very large portion of the first time home buyer (FTHB) cohort are commencing their home financing journey with non-banks. What are non-banks doing to continue and extend those relationships?
• Four out of five FTHB are taking Ginnie Mae loans; and 
• Four out of five purchase Ginnie Mae loans are originated through non-bank channels.
• Despite some debate about consumers being scarred by the housing crisis into refraining from taking advantage of their expanding home equity, there is still demand by consumers to take cash out.  It's just that the traditional home equity loan (or line) does not seem to be much of an option.
• Four out of five refinances entailed the borrower taking at least 5% cash out; and
• The quantum of second liens continues to decline in the face of monotonic household equity gains.
• Non-banks continue to gain share of origination
• 66% of agency mortgage loans are originated through non-bank channels, around five-year highs; and
• While this production is biased towards refinances, the trend is directionally the same.