Unlocking the Potential: Exploring Credit Unions’ Impact in Modern Lending

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Over the last 12 months, residential lending has faced its fair share of woes on the balance sheet compared to the record-setting years in the industry between 2020 and 2021. However, that blip on the radar, in comparison to “normal” market years, is still a topic that lenders reminisce about today. I liken that period to the antithesis of September 2007, the start of the Great Recession. For industry insiders who have been in the business since 2006, it’s what the “war stories” of the mortgage industry are made of when sharing those highs and lows.

The current period of higher interest rates feels much different since it happened within such a short window. It also feels different because we don’t have the predictable market downturn in housing occurring simultaneously. In fact, home values continue to increase while supply remains meager. Among the mortgage leaders I connect with during the year, I hear similar stories: They have large pipelines of pre-approvals, but their members aren’t able to win offers for months on end. Some have been pre-approved for years while actively shopping. Just the other week, a first-time homebuyer in West Michigan was competing with 46 offers. Simply put, it’s not a healthy housing market and hasn’t been for quite some time.