Lending Plunges to 17-Year Low as Rates Curtail Borrowing
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U.S. mortgage lending is contracting to levels not seen since 1997 -- the year Tiger Woods won his first of four Masters championships -- as rising interest rates and home prices drive away borrowers.
Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., the two largest U.S. mortgage lenders, reported a first-quarter plunge in loan volumes that’s part of an industry-wide drop off. Lenders made $226 billion of mortgages in the period, the smallest quarterly amount since 1997 and less than one-third of the 2006 average, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association in Washington.