Hello everybody my name is Cheri Malozsak and welcome back to Suburban Snacks. This month’s snack is… dates! In this episode, we’ll be explaining how mortgage borrowing saw record highs in 2021. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, mortgage lenders issued $1.61 trillion in purchase loans last year! That tops a previous record set in 2005 of $1.51 trillion. We all know that the housing market has been insanely hot over the past year. Home prices have managed to grow substantially, which is stretching Americans’ budgets to afford a home. The MBA reported that the average amount borrowed to finance a home climbed to just under $415,000 in November. The Commerce Department reported that median sales prices for new homes rose nearly 19% in November. And the National Association of Realtors reported existing home prices jumped 13.9% annually last month. With home prices rising, buyers aren’t just borrowing more money but they are having to bring larger down payments to close. ATTOM Data Solutions reported that the median down payment recently hit its highest level since 2005.