As purchase money languished on the sidelines, a wave of refinance activity pushed overall origination volumes considerably higher on an annual basis in the fourth quarter, newly released data shows.

Despite 6% fewer loans being originated on a quarterly basis, the dollar volume of originations rose 1% in the fourth quarter to $627.3 billion, about 4% higher than a year ago.

For the first time since early 2022, the quarterly refinance share of originations exceeded the share of purchase originations, according to real estate market analytics firm Attom, which released its 2025 U.S. Residential Property Mortgage Origination Report on Thursday.

Purchase loans made up 39.9% of fourth-quarter mortgage activity, down from 45.7% in the fourth quarter of 2024. Refinances comprised 42.6% of lending activity, up from 38.3% a year ago.

“Loans, particularly for new purchases, typically slow down in the fourth quarter as fewer people are buying houses,” said Rob Barber, CEO of Attom, commenting in the report. But that seasonality proved so pronounced at the end of 2025 that refinances overtook purchase mortgages in overall fourth-quarter origination share.

Barber added that movements lower in average mortgage rates likely sparked the unusual reversal, which had not happened on a quarterly basis in nearly four years.

Purchase loan counts of 685,583 were 14% lower over the quarter and 13% lower over the year, while the roughly $278 billion in dollar volume reflected a 14% quarterly and 10% yearly drop.

The 732,615 refinance loans, however, were 6% higher over the quarter and 11% higher over the year, while the approximately $289 billion in dollar volume reflected increases of 25% and 21%, respectively.

Home equity lending, meanwhile, dropped on a quarterly basis to close out 2025, slipping 10% from the third quarter but remaining 9% higher year over year. Home equity lines of credit accounted for 17.5% of all loans, down from 18.3% in the third quarter.

Within government lending activity specifically, Attom reported that the share of loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration fell to 11.4% in the fourth quarter from 14.1% during the third quarter and 15.3% a year ago. The share of loans backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs increased to 7.4% from 5.7% in the third quarter and 6.6% a year ago.