Loan Activity for October

The charts for October are giving me something to feel good about. In each of the areas we chart the refinance business took a move upward for the first time in the last few months. You may be saying, It didn't have anywhere else to go! I on the other hand certainly was hearing that it could have gotten a lot worse. I think that this move upward is showing us that the lenders are figuring out how to handle what hit them. The underwriting requirements and the sources of funds are getting ironed out. That is all very good news. I think we will start seeing an increase in sales in the not to distant future as well. The fact that lenders are getting things moving again will certainly give some much needed confidence to the buyers that are out there. The next people to jump on board will be the investors from Wall Street who will then begin creating even more sources for loans. This will be particularly important for many jumbo loan customers. I would love to hear any comments you might have. See You In Escrow!

August Loan Activity In Santa Barbara

Could August have been any more of a duplicate of July? There were 941 residential loan transactions in August and 947 in July. I would have expected more of a difference with all the attention the media has been paying to rates and the sub prime loan meltdown. There were some differences between the North County and south County though. The number of purchase transactions in the South County slid by 22% while the average purchase loan amount went up. The number of non purchase loans in the South County was down only 13 transactions to 505, not much of a difference. In Santa Maria the number of purchase transactions was up 14% from July while the non purchase loans were up slightly, about 3%. In Lompoc the number of purchase loans was up significantly from July, over 43%. The non purchase loans went down by just 2 transactions there. So if all you did was look at the county number you would have missed the fact that the North Counties purchase loans were up pretty significantly while the South's purchase loan volume declined. The refinance markets stayed pretty steady in both areas as compared to July. Remember to click on any of the charts to view a large version. To review June or July's charts just refer back to my previous posts for those months.