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By Craig Manning

Between record-low pandemic-era interest rates and a massive swell of buying activity in northern Michigan, mortgage loan originators had plenty to keep them occupied a year ago.

“If we were at a 10 a year ago (in terms of mortgage loan activity), and somebody said, ‘Where are you right now?’ I’d say we’re probably at about a 3,” said Mike Nagy, vice president of mortgage lending for State Savings Bank. “In terms of business volume in our industry, it went from drinking water from a fire hose to trying to sip a frosty through a cocktail straw.”

While the pandemic was a wild ride for most industries – and for the American economy in general – mortgage lenders were booming the entire time.

For one thing, record-low interest rates were driving a frenzy of refinancing activity. Rates were attractive throughout 2020 en route to an all-time low of 2.65% in January 2021 for a 30-year fixed mortgage.

For another thing, as the economy came out of its initial pandemic-induced tailspin, buying activity hit a fever pitch. The record-low interest rates; the fact that people had just spent months at home discovering that they wanted or needed more living space; the explosion of remote work that unshackled countless people and families from major metropolitan areas; the seed of a housing inventory crisis, first planted during the