Issue link: http://dsnews.uberflip.com/i/1513140
December 2023 » thefivestar.com 59 December 2023 J O U R N A L among investor types, between the sec- ond and third quarter of 2023, the dollar volume of loans for CMBS decreased 21%, loans for depositories decreased 19%, originations for investor-driven lenders decreased 13%, and loans for GSEs decreased 4%. The dollar volume of loans for life insurance companies increased by 18%. PURCHASE APPLICATIONS WANE AS HOUSING AFFORDABILITY REACHES 39-YEAR LOW I ntercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) has released its latest ICE Mortgage Monitor Report, based on the com- pany's mortgage, real estate, and public records data sets. Interest rates continue to put significant pressure on affordabil- ity, which in turn is affecting homebuyer and borrower demand. As ICE VP of Enterprise Research Andy Walden said, "October was a par- ticularly challenging month for prospec- tive homebuyers from an interest rate perspective." "For all but a single day, interest rates spent the entire month of October above 7.5%, topping out at 7.80% on October 25, according to our ICE U.S. Conform- ing 30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rate Lock Index," Walden said. "Mortgage rates haven't been that high in 23 years, which continues to hammer affordability. The situation was already dire, but recent weeks have seen rates climb to where it now takes nearly 41% of the median monthly income just to make the P&I payment needed to purchase the medi- an-priced home. That payment has risen by $144 over the past 30 days and now sits above $2,500 a month for the first time in his- tory. Keep in mind that the record-high payment doesn't include taxes, insur- ance, or any HOA fees that may be part of the homeowner's monthly expenses. For the last 35 years, the share of income needed to cover P&I has averaged below 25%. Affordability pressure is not coming from interest rates alone, though. The last time affordability was this bad was in the '80s, rates were in the double digits, and the average home was about 3.5 times the median income, in stark contrast to today's price-to-income ratio of nearly 6-to-1." Key highlights form the ICE Mort- gage Monitor Report: » Rising rates and home prices have pushed the principal and interest (P&I) payment needed to purchase the median-priced home up $144 per month over the past 30 days to more