The Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) released their third quarter report on Alaska housing indicators. It tracks new loan activity for single family homes and condominiums in Alaska. The data is based on a survey representing approximately 95% of mortgage lenders in Alaska and also includes AHFC loans. They surveyed mortgage lending activity the first nine months of 2011. It reported 5,538 loans were originated year-to-date statewide for single family homes and condominiums for a total amount of $1.3 billion. This is compared to 6,756 loans totaling $1.6 billion in the first nine months of 2010. 2011 loans were done with an average downpayment of 10%.
In the third quarter, 52% of single family home loans occurred in Anchorage. The Mat-Su contributed 16% of the volume, 13% in Fairbanks, 8% in Kenai, 6% Juneau, 2% Kodiak, and 1% in Ketchikan. 85% of condos were financed in Anchorage. Juneau accounted for 8% of condo loans with the Mat-Su and Fairbanks at 2% each.
There have been 428 new construction single family homes and 93 new condos financed statewide through September of 2011. Therefore, 1 in 11 loans has been for new construction versus sales of existing homes.
30 year conventional fixed interest rate mortgage loans have been getting less expensive for three decades. In 1981 they peaked at 16.6% and have undergone a slow and steady decline ever since. In early 2009 rates dipped under 5% on average for the first time and a surge in refinance activity began.
According to AHFC statistics there was less than $200 million in refinance loan activity completed per quarter in Alaska in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, the average rose to $400 million. Then in the first quarter of 2009 the activity spiked to $1.4 billion, followed by $1.2 billion in the second quarter. During this time the average 30 year interest rate declined nearly 1.5% in six months. The refinance pace slowed somewhat in the last half of 2009, but still finished the year with $3.7 billion in refinanced mortgage loans according to AHFC statistics.
In 2010, the refinance volume declined to $2.4 billion, but this is still far above historical levels. In the first nine months of 2011the volume has been lower at $1.2 million with three months to go. Rates actually increased in the first part of the year, but have since declined again. According to the Federal Reserve, conventional 30-year mortgage rates nationwide averaged 4.76% in January and have fallen to 3.96% in December of 2011.
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