Mortgage Professionals Optimistic About Market

Mortgage professionals have been beat up over the past year, riding the wave of frenzied purchasing earlier in the year and pinching pennies as rates rose in the summer. But many mortgage brokers feel that the last quarter of the year will be a good one, making confidence in the mortgage industry the highest it has been in 10 years. As national mortgage rates average lower and lower each week, most brokers think that the industry will see a “mild” increase in activity, while some think that there will be “moderate” increase in the last month of this year.

Mortgage professionals have reported that, on average, they arranged 32 mortgages in the last three months, which is up from 29 last year at the same time and 27 from the year before. The numbers show that, though the mortgage amount may be lower, purchases and home refinances are still going strong, buoyed by decreasing rates and stabilizing housing values. The majority of mortgage brokers feel that 2007 will be a stronger year than this one, both with volume and value.\r\n