WASHINGTON — Home-loan applications tumbled 34% to 14.2 million during 2008, data Wednesday from regulators showed.
Loans purchased from another institution fell to 2.9 million from 4.8 million in 2007, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council data said.
The FFIEC collects loan data from banks. The council includes the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Office of Thrift Supervision.
The 2008 report includes data from 8,388 financial institutions, including banks, savings associations, credit unions, and mortgage companies. The data are required by the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.
The 34% decline in applications and originations compared to a 22% drop in 2007 from 2006.
"The 2008 HMDA data reflect the ongoing difficulties in the housing and mortgage markets, with decreases in the number of reporting institutions and loans," the FFIEC said in a news release. "The number of reporting institutions fell nearly 3% from 2007, primarily because of a relatively large decline in the number of independent mortgage companies."
