The survey, which was conducted in January 2007 by Wholesale Access Mortgage Research and Consulting, Inc., asked brokers from across the country about the types of mortgages being sold to homebuyers.

"From this data, one thing is clear.  The industry is responding to market conditions and the needs of consumers," said NAMB President Harry Dinham.  "As we can see in the information from earlier this year, the market continues to accommodate consumer demand at most levels of credit."

According to the results, prime loans made up the largest sector of the lending marketplace this past January.  More than 60 percent of all loans originated by brokers in January were at prime, where customers had a FICO credit score of 650 or greater.

Fixed-rate mortgages also gained in frequency.  In 2006, fixed-rate products accounted for less than half of the loans originated by brokers.  In January of this year, on average, almost 54 percent of new loans featured fixed interest rates. See figure 2.

"This is a particularly timely reminder that, even with all the attention that non-prime loans receive in the media, most homebuyers have the proper credit for more traditional loan products," said Dinham.  "The data also point out that brokers are the most popular originators in the market, accounting for more than 60 percent of all mortgages today."

NAMB's partner in this research, Wholesale Access, surveyed more than 200 brokers, and collected information on the types of loan products offered, ARM versus fixed-rate offerings and combined loan to value ratios. Results will be reported monthly. See figure 3.

"The research shows that mortgage brokers react quickly to changes in the market place," said David Olson, President of Wholesale Access, "and have moved away from the high-risk subprime mortgages toward more fixed rate loans requiring higher down payments and higher FICO scores." 

The study found many brokers have also been converting ARMs to fixed rate mortgages.  "We believe our monthly series will track continuation of this trend as rapid changes occur in the market this year," said Larry Pearl, Managing Director, who heads up this research for Wholesale Access.

"Through our partnership with Wholesale Access, we look forward to providing brokers, regulators and the public with accurate and timely information about trends in the mortgage market," said Dinham.

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The National Association of Mortgage Brokers is the voice of the mortgage broker industry with more than 25,000 members in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. NAMB provides education, certification and government affairs representation for the mortgage broker industry, which originates over 50% of all residential loans in the United States.