A total of 1.72 million mortgages secured by residential property (one to four units) were issued in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to data from ATTOM. That marked a 6% decrease from the third quarter and was mostly the same as the volume in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The $627.3 billion value of fourth quarter’s loans was 1% higher than the prior quarter’s total and 4% higher than the level set one year earlier.
During the fourth quarter, refinancing accounted for largest share of lending activity. There were 732,615 refinancing loan originations during this period, up by 6% from the third quarter and up by 11% from the fourth quarter of 2024. The fourth quarter refinancing loans were worth a total of $289.1 billion, a 25% increase over the prior quarter and 21% higher year-over-year.
Refinancing loans accounted for 42.6% of all loans, up from 37.8% the previous quarter and 38.3% at the same time last year. It was the first time refinancing loans have accounted for a greater share of all loans than purchase loans since the first quarter of 2022.
As for purchase loans, the 685,583 mortgages issued for homebuying in the fourth quarter marked a 14% drop from the prior quarter’s 801,275 loans and a 13% drop from the same quarter one year earlier. In terms of dollar volume, purchase loans totaled $278.1 billion in the fourth quarter, down 14% quarter-over-quarter and down 10% year-over-year.
Purchase loans made up 39.9% of all loans issued in the final quarter of the year, down from 43.9% in the third quarter and down from 45.7% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
“Loans, particularly for new purchases, typically slow down in the fourth quarter as fewer people are buying houses,” said Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM. “But this year, that seasonal slowdown was offset by a rise in refinancing, likely driven by the steady drop in mortgage rates, which have been some of the lowest we’ve seen since 2022.”
