Mortgage market poised for growth as buyer sentiment improves

Michelle
Dugan
(pictured
top),
owner
at
MS
Lending
in
Mississippi,
told
Mortgage
Professional
America
that
rate
drops
in
recent
weeks
meant
her
team
was
taking
a
proactive
approach
to
its
client
database.
“We’re
definitely
reaching
out
to
all
of
our
borrowers
that
had
held
off
from
moving
forward
on
purchases
because
of
rates,”
she
said.

“Some
of
them,
when
we
had
initial
conversations,
were
approaching
8%.
And
now
we
can
call
them
back
and
say,
‘Hey,
we
can
get
you
into
the
low
sixes,’
and
some
of
them
[even
lower],
depending
on
what
it
is.”

After
some
of
the
doom
and
gloom
that
pervaded
the
market
amid
soaring
mortgage
rates
and
borrowing
costs
in
2022
and
2023,
those
are
“fun”
conversations
to
have,
Dugan
said,
as
clients
realize
the
tide
is
turning.

Hope
is
coming
into
view
on
the
purchase
side
–
and
the
refinance
picture
also
looks
to
be
improving,
with

year-over-year
refinance
activity
spiking
despite
a
slight
recent
dip.

Little
clarity
remains
over
eventual
landing
spot
for
mortgage
rates

The
main
questions
facing
borrowers
on
refis,
according
to
Dugan,
are
how
far
rates
are
likely
to
drop
in
the
future
and
whether
it
makes
sense
to
hold
off
for
now
in
the
hope
of
securing
a
lower
rate
down
the
line.