In 2010 and for several years following, the largest state for FHA purchase loan originations was California. Texas first eclipsed California in 2014, and by 2017 has consistently led. And now for the first half of 2022, the top 3 zip codes for FHA purchase loan production are located in Texas and Florida.
Zip Code 75126 is the Top Zip Code by FHA Purchase Loan Production
Zip code 75126 is the top zip code by number of FHA purchase loans originated in the first half of 2022. It has been the #1 in this category in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. This zip code fits mostly in Kaufman County in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX MSA.
One interesting thing about Kaufman county is that more than half of occupied housing units are relatively new - about 20 years old. In other words, the building of new housing units appears to have kept up with housing demand. In addition, younger households are relocating to the Dallas metro area. For example, in 2021, using CPS ASEC data, we see that the median age of householders moving to the metro area was 35 years old.
In the first half of 2022 there were 628 FHA purchase loans originated in zip code 75126. The average FHA purchase loan size was $312,039 in Q1 (up 18% from Q1'21) and $334,162 in Q2 (up 24% from Q2'21). And indeed the top 3 FHA loan originators are subsidiaries of builder companies (DHI, Lennar, and Pulte).
In the last 13 years, the FHA purchase loan originations in this zip code have steadily increased, as shown in the chart below (first half of each year). The orange bar shows the wholesale (broker) originations have also grown over the years.
Zip Code 34953 is the #2 Zip Code by FHA Purchase Production
In the first six months of 2022, there were 458 FHA purchase loans originated in 34953, making it the second largest zip code for FHA purchase mortgage originations. The average FHA purchase loan size is up 26% to $336,734 in the first half of 2022, up from $266,626 for the same period in 2021.
Zip code 34953 is located in Port St. Lucie, FL metro area (MSA).
In 2021, the population of the Port St. Lucie was more than 596,160 across 243,401 households, of which 33.5% were minority households - 15.8% non-Hispanic Black,13.6% Hispanic, and others (CPSVision updated with CPS, ASEC 2021). This metro area has a high homeownership rate - 79% of households are homeowners.
Zip code 77373 is the #3 Zip Code by FHA Purchase Production
The third largest zip code by FHA purchase originations is zip code 77373, in Harris County, part of the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX MSA.
FHA purchase loan originations in zip code 77373 have been steadily growing over the last 13 years from 240 to 424 in the first half of each year.
Comparing the same period, the first half of the year, we see steady growth driven by mortgages on new homes. The top 2 purchase lenders in the first half of 2022, DHI Mortgage and Pulte Mortgage, supplied more than 39% of all FHA purchase mortgages. In fact, 12% of households in Harris County occupy housing units built since 2011 vs. only 6% naitonwide (ASC 1-YR data in CensusVision).
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