Much of the housing market made a forced pit stop during the COVID-19 lockdowns of March 2020, but by that summer it was on track and running red hot. The upswing ran contrary to conventional wisdom, and the pandemic-related lull in home sales that some experts expected never materialized. The opposite happened; both mortgage applications and home sales in the U.S. increased in 2020, exceeding those of the pre-pandemic year prior by considerable margins in many locales.
Data from the National Association of Realtors shows that while COVID-19 put a dent in the first-quarter homes sales of 2020, the rebound was enough to top 2019 numbers; existing-home sales in 2020 were up 5.6% over 2019.
The analysis found that the Tullahoma-Manchester metro area experienced a 19.1% increase in mortgage loan applications between 2019 and 2020 with an approval rating of 86 percent. In the United States mortgage loan applications increased 9 percent. Here is a summary of the data for the Tullahoma-Manchester, TN metro area:
- Percentage change in mortgage applications (2019-2020): +19.1%
- Total change in mortgage applications (2019-2020): +143
- Total mortgage applications (2020): 893
- Total mortgage applications (2019): 750
- Mortgage loan approval rate (2020): 86.2%
- Mortgage loan approval rate (2019): 86.6%
For reference, here are the statistics for the entire United States:
- Percentage change in mortgage applications (2019-2020): +9.0%
- Total change in mortgage applications (2019-2020): +291,699
- Total mortgage applications (2020): 3,521,044
- Total mortgage applications (2019): 3,229,345
- Mortgage loan approval rate (2020): 86.3%
- Mortgage loan approval rate (2019): 86.6%
