Debt Stress

Mortgage Origination Volume

Quarterly dollar volume of new mortgage originations

What is the current Mortgage Origination Volume?

QUARTERLY MORTGAGE ORIGINATIONS
$524.4B ↑ Improving
billion in new mortgage lending — half the 2021 peak pace
One year ago
$465.3B ↑ Improving
up $59.1B since Q4 2024

Mortgage origination volume was $524.4B in Q4 2024, according to the NY Fed Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit. Origination volume reflects both demand for housing and banks' willingness to lend — declines signal tightening credit conditions. Source: NY Fed Consumer Credit Panel / Equifax.

Mortgage origination volume has recovered to $524 billion a quarter but remains less than half of the $1.2 trillion peak reached in 2021.

The housing market has two populations now. The people who got their mortgage before rates rose, and the people who want one.

Origination volume is the size of the second group. In Q4 2025, NY Fed data show $524.4 billion in new mortgages originated. That's up from $323.5 billion at the 2023 trough, but well below the $1.2 trillion peak of mid-2021, when sub-3% rates pulled forward years of future refinancing and purchase activity into a single 18-month window.

The composition is what ages. Every quarter that origination volume runs depressed, the national mortgage book gets older, more rate-locked, and less transactional. Sellers stay in 3% homes because they can't afford 7% debt on the next one. Buyers delay. The borrowers moving in are overwhelmingly FHA and first-time, which is why First Missed has started ticking up even while overall Mortgage Delinquency stays near 1.8%.

Low origination volume also blinds parts of the data. Delinquency rates are computed against the existing book. A book full of vintage 2020-2021 paper at 3% is structurally safer than a book full of 2024-2025 paper at 7%. The seven-quarter calm in 90-day mortgage delinquency is partly the calm of a book that mostly predates this rate environment.

Source: NY Fed Household Debt and Credit Report · Latest: 2025-Q4

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Have high rates made buying or refinancing feel impossible?

How has Mortgage Origination Volume changed over time?

CSV Chart Card
Mortgage origination volume is running at half the 2021 pace
New mortgage originations, billions of dollars, NY Fed quarterly
Mortgage Origination Volume
Historical data
Quarterly · NY Fed Household Debt and Credit Report
Period Value YoY Change
Q4 2025 $524.4B +$59.1B
Q3 2025 $512.2B +$63.8B
Q2 2025 $458.3B +$84.2B
Q1 2025 $425.6B +$23.0B
Q4 2024 $465.3B +$71.6B
Q3 2024 $448.3B +$61.9B
Q2 2024 $374.1B −$19.3B
Q1 2024 $402.7B +$79.1B
Q4 2023 $393.8B −$103.8B
Q3 2023 $386.4B −$246.1B
Q2 2023 $393.4B −$364.8B
Q1 2023 $323.5B −$535.4B

Frequently Asked Questions

What is current mortgage origination volume?

U.S. mortgage originations totaled $524.4B in Q4 2024. This includes new purchases, refinances, and home equity originations.

Why does mortgage origination volume matter?

Falling origination volume signals tightening credit conditions and reduced housing demand. The American Distress Index tracks it as a financial conditions indicator.

Where does this data come from?

This data comes from the NY Fed Consumer Credit Panel, published quarterly as part of the Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit.

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Why does Mortgage Origination Volume matter?

Mortgage Origination Volume is one of 91 indicators in the American Distress Index's debt stress layer — the signal that predicted the 2008 crisis two years before delinquency data confirmed it.
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