Mortgage Bankers Association Expects Purchase Originations to Grow Further in 2021

At their virtual 2020 Annual Convention & Expo, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said that they expect purchase originations to grow 8.5% to a new record of $ 1.54 in 2021. This on top of a sizeable 70.9%, to date, jump in activity in 2020. The MBA anticipates however, that refinance originations will slow next year – decreasing by 46.3% to $ 946 billion. With record-low mortgage rates driving sustained borrower demand, MBA forecasts mortgage originations to total $3.18 trillion in 2020 – the most since 2003 ($3.81 trillion). In 2021, mortgage originations are expected to fall to around $2.49 trillion, which would still be the second-highest total in the past 15 years. At $1.54 trillion, next year’s purchase originations would eclipse the previous all-time high of $1.51 trillion in 2005.