New Home SalesCENSUS
1,086K
U.S. Housing Market · 2003
U.S. Housing Market in 2003
refi boom5.83% rate lowsubprime expansion begins
Existing SalesNAR
6.18M
Median PriceNAR
$170,000
30Y MortgagePMMS
5.83%
2003 was the year of the great refinancing wave. Mortgage rates fell to 5.83% — the lowest reading since the early 1960s — and existing sales reached 6.18M.
Two forces converged. The Federal Reserve held the fed funds rate at 1% from June 2003 through June 2004, the lowest since 1958. Simultaneously, securitization of subprime and alt-A mortgages was scaling rapidly — by 2004 nearly half of U.S. mortgage originations were sold into private-label RMBS, expanding credit availability dramatically. The housing market was about to enter the most consequential boom in modern history.