Red-hot housing market to fuel record borrowing in ’22

By ALEX VEIGA
AP Business Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fierce competition, low mortgage rates and soaring prices helped raise the amount borrowers took on to buy homes last year to an all-time high, eclipsing the mid-2000s housing bubble. Banks issued an estimated $1.61 trillion in home purchase loans last year, up about 9% from 2020, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. That tops the previous high of $1.51 trillion in 2005.  While lenders issued around 4% fewer home purchase loans last year, their dollar value increased as home prices surged. The MBA expects home purchase mortgages will climb to a new high of $1.74 trillion this year.