Scotsman Guide’s Mortgage Originator Sentiment Survey (MOSS) is indicating that increased mortgage applications are on the way in the coming months.
MOSS showed that 64% of mortgage company respondents expect their business to perform better during the next six months compared with the second half of 2022.
Back in June, only 22% of top-ranking originators expected business to improve in the second half of 2022.
Jeffrey Sabourin, chief product officer for Scotsman Guide, said in prepared remarks, “What a difference six months make. The mortgage industry is certainly not out of the woods yet, but respondents to our survey are responding optimistically to recent market signals.”
That’s a significant turnaround from the survey’s June 2022 findings, which saw just 22% of top-ranking originators expecting business to improve in the six-month period ahead.
Surveys reflect only a single point in time and mortgage rates and Federal Reserve activity has been volatile. However, survey respondents pointed to “decreasing mortgage rates and a pullback of the Federal Reserve’s hawkish monetary policy” as factors that give them hope.
In January, 70.5% of brokers predicted better results in the next six months, compared to 61.1% of bankers.
