Mortgages boom amidst Coronavirus-driven economic gloom

$1.1 trillion in mortgages were issued in the first quarter of the pandemic era (2Q20). To put in perspective, the entirety of 2020 saw $2.5 trillion in originations. Refinances were up 200% while purchase mortgages were down 8% from the year earlier.

But it’s not all good news... “This boom in mort­gage orig­i­na­tions isn’t nec­es­sar­ily go­ing to be that awe­some for the broader econ­omy,” said Ralph B McLaughlin, chief econ­omist at Haus.com a home-fi­nance startup. “There is less of a mul­ti­plier ef­fect in the econ­omy when some­body refinances ver­sus buy­ing a house.”