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REFINANCE ACTIVITY UP AGAIN DURING FOURTH QUARTER DESPITE BROADER U.S. DOWNTURN IN HOME MORTGAGES

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Home Loans Shrink 3 Percent Quarterly as Interest Rates Climb and Sales Listings Remain Low;Purchase and Home-Equity Lending Dips While Refinance Deals Increase Again;Total Activity Still Down 60 Percent from 2021 Peak

IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property data, and real estate analytics, today released its fourth-quarter 2024 U.S. Residential Property Mortgage Origination Report, which shows that 1.64 million mortgages secured by residential property (1 to 4 units) were issued in the United States during the fourth quarter. That was down 3 percent quarterly but up 14 percent from a year earlier.

The quarterly drop-off – after increases earlier in 2024 – came as mortgage rates rose, supplies of residential properties for sale remained near five-year lows and the home-buying market hit its usual Fall slow season. Despite the annual gain in lending activity, the total number of home mortgages issued during the fourth quarter of last year remained down by nearly two-thirds from a high point hit in 2021.

The latest trend resulted from declines in purchase and home-equity lending tempered by an increase in refinance packages.

Lending to home buyers shrank 7.5 percent from the third to the fourth quarter of 2024, to about 732,000, while the number of home equity credit lines dipped 11.6 percent, to roughly 267,000. Mortgage rollovers, however, increased for the third consecutive quarter, growing 6.4 percent to about 642,000.

Measured monetarily, lenders issued $568 billion worth of residential mortgages in the fourth quarter of 2024. That was up 1.4 percent from the third quarter of 2024 and 26.3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2023.

The mixed pattern of ups and downs among various loan types raised the portion of all residential mortgages represented by refinance deals, while lowering the purchase and home-equity loan components. Nevertheless, purchase loans once again stood as the most common form of mortgages around the U.S. during the fourth quarter, comprising almost half.

“The in-boxes of mortgage lenders emptied out a bit during the Fall of 2024 following a couple of strong quarters that had pointed to a possible revival for the industry. Things slowed down as the market remained tight and the cost of borrowing went back, all during the usual annual home-buying lull,” said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. “One small surprise emerged with refinancings increasing again despite rising interest rates. That may have happened because rates started the quarter at one of the more attractive points over the past few years, suggesting that homeowners were trying to get their mortgages reset before borrowing costs went back up.”

He added that “forces remain in places for lending to remain slow. But the fallback was modest, and the trend should turn back around to some degree over the coming months as the weather warms and home buying heats back up, especially if mortgage rates settle down.”

Total lending ticks downward, still less than half of 2021 high points
Banks and other lenders issued a total of 1,640,106 residential mortgages in the fourth quarter of 2024. That was down 3.3 percent from 1,695,915 in third quarter of 2024, although still up from 1,433,864 in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Total activity went down after two straight quarterly gains, keeping the latest count 60 percent beneath a recent high point of 4,135,893 reached in the first quarter of 2021 when average 30-year mortgages rate hovered around 3 percent.

A total of $568.5 billion was lent to homeowners and buyers in the fourth quarter of last year, up slightly from $560.7 billion in the prior quarter and from $450.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023. Still, it was less than half the peak of $1.3 trillion hit in 2021.

Overall lending activity followed downward quarterly and upward annual trends in a majority of metropolitan areas around the U.S. with enough data to analyze. The total decreased from the third quarter to the fourth quarter of last year in 132, or 65.3 percent, of the 202 metropolitan statistical areas that had a population of 200,000 or more and at least 1,000 total residential mortgages issued from October through December of 2024. It remained up from the fourth quarter of 2023 in 175, or 86.6 percent, of the metro areas analyzed.

The largest quarterly decreases came in St. Louis, MO (total lending down 31 percent from the third quarter of 2024 to the fourth quarter of 2024); Augusta, GA (down 23.4 percent); Savannah, GA (down 21 percent); Baton Rouge, LA (down 20.6 percent) and Beaumont, TX (down 20.1 percent).

Aside from St. Louis, metro areas with a population of least 1 million that had the biggest decreases in total loans from the third to the fourth quarter of 2024 were Atlanta, GA (down 18.9 percent); Rochester, NY (down 16.5 percent); Virginia Beach, VA (down 15.9 percent) and Tampa, FL (down 13 percent).

Metro areas with enough data to analyze where lending increased the most quarterly were Honolulu, HI (up 58.7 percent); Hilo, HI (up 51.8 percent); Hilton Head, SC (up 39.7 percent); Charleston, SC (up 26 percent) and Buffalo, NY (up 18.9 percent)

Measured annually, the largest increases in total lending among metro areas with a population of at least 1 million were in San Jose, CA (total lending up 78.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter of 2024); Honolulu, HI (up 75 percent); Los Angeles, CA (up 43 percent); San Francisco, CA (up 40.7 percent) and San Diego, CA (up 40.1 percent).

Purchase mortgages decline amid tight market and slow buying season but remain most common loan
The decline in overall fourth-quarter lending activity was driven largely by the latest decrease in the number of mortgages issued to home buyers, which dropped to 731,517.

While lending to buyers remained up annually by 6.4 percent, the fourth-quarter total was off from 790,970 in the prior quarter. It also sat far below a 1.6 million highwater mark hit in the Spring of 2021.

The latest dollar volume of purchase loans, $289.7 billion, was 5.5 percent less than the $306.5 billion third-quarter level and 45.7 percent below a 2021 peak. Still, it was up 16.2 percent from the $249.3 billion amount loaned in late 2023.

Residential purchase-mortgage originations decreased quarterly in 79.7 percent of the 202 metro areas in the report while they were up annually in 70.3 percent of those markets.

The largest quarterly decreases were in St. Louis, MO (purchase loans down 36.2 percent from the third quarter of 2024 to the fourth quarter of 2024); Augusta, GA (down 31.1 percent); Baton Rouge, LA (down 30.4 percent); Atlanta, GA (down 27.9 percent) and Shreveport, LA (down 27.2 percent).

Aside from St. Louis and Atlanta, the biggest quarterly decreases in metro areas with a population of at least 1 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 came in Virginia Beach, VA (down 21.4 percent); Minneapolis, MN (down 18.2 percent) and San Antonio, TX (down 17.4 percent).

The top annual increases in purchase lending in metro areas with a population of at least 1 million were in Honolulu, HI (up 113.5 percent from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter of 2024); San Jose, CA (up 50.2 percent); Birmingham, AL (up 42.1 percent); Portland, OR (up 41.8 percent) and Las Vegas, NV (up 39.1 percent).

Refinance activity up for third consecutive quarter
Despite interest rates rising during the fourth quarter of last year, the number of residential refinance mortgages issued by lenders climbed to 641,918. That was up from 603,324 in the prior three-month period and by 28.2 percent from 500,877 in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The recent increase marked the third quarterly gain in a row, reaching the highest point since mid-2022. Refinancing activity has gradually increased over the past two years following a spike in interest rates in 2021 and 2022 that caused mortgage rollovers to slump more than 80 percent.

The $228.5 billion dollar volume of refinance packages in the fourth quarter of 2024 remained significantly below a peak of $830.9 billion in 2021. But it was up 15.7 percent from $197.6 billion in the third quarter of last year and up 46.7 percent from $155.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Refinancing activity increased quarterly in 73.8 percent and annually in 93.1 percent of the metro areas around the U.S. with enough data to analyze.

The largest quarterly increases were in Hilton Head, SC (refinance loans up 56.4 percent from the third to the fourth quarter of 2024); Wilmington, NC (up 48.9 percent); San Jose, CA (up 43.8 percent); Buffalo, NY (up 41.9 percent) and San Francisco, CA (up 35.4 percent).

Aside from San Jose, San Francisco and Buffalo, metro areas with a population of least 1 million where refinance activity increased most quarterly were Denver, CO (up 23.9 percent) and Houston, TX (up 22.5 percent).

Metro areas with a population of least 1 million and the largest year-over-year increases in the number of refinance loans were San Jose, CA (up 170.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter of 2024); San Francisco, CA (up 113.8 percent); Seattle, WA (up 86.8 percent); Los Angeles, CA (up 84.6 percent) and San Diego, CA (up 80.9 percent).

Refinance packages comprised 39.1 percent of all loan originations in the fourth quarter of 2024. That was up from 35.6 percent in the prior quarter to the highest level since early in 2022, but still not close to the 65.7 percent portion in 2021.

HELOC lending also down quarterly while up annually
As with overall lending, home-equity lines of credit (HELOCs) decreased quarterly but were higher annually. The latest total of 266,171 was off from 301,622 in the third quarter of 2024 while remaining up 8.6 percent from 245,518 in the last few months of 2023.

The $50.2 billion volume of HELOC loans in the fourth quarter of 2024 was down from $56.6 billion in the prior quarter but more than the $45 billion lent in the fourth quarter of 2023.

HELOCs comprised 16.3 percent of all loans in the most recent quarter. That was down from the 17.8 percent portion in the third quarter of 2024 but still almost four times the level recorded in 2021.

HELOC mortgage originations decreased from the third quarter to the fourth quarter of 2024 in 86.6 percent of the metro areas analyzed. The largest quarterly decreases in metro areas with a population of at least 1 million were in Atlanta, GA (down 53.3 percent); St. Louis, MO (down 40.3 percent); Virginia Beach, VA (down 28.9 percent); Houston, TX (down 27.7 percent) and Rochester, NY (down 25.2 percent).

FHA and VA mortgages grow as portion of all loans
Lenders issued 244,984 mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) during the fourth quarter of 2024, representing 14.9 percent of all residential property loans. That was up from 13.6 percent in the third quarter of last year although still down from 15.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Residential loans backed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) totaled 106,900, or 6.5 percent of all residential property loans originated in the fourth quarter of 2024. That also was up, from 5.8 percent in the previous quarter as well as from 4.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Report methodology
ATTOM analyzed recorded mortgage and deed of trust data for single-family homes, condos, town homes and multi-family properties of two to four units for this report. Each recorded mortgage or deed of trust was counted as a separate loan origination. Dollar volume was calculated by multiplying the total number of loan originations by the average loan amount for those loan originations.

About ATTOM
ATTOM provides premium property data and analytics that power a myriad of solutions that improve transparency, innovation, digitization and efficiency in a data-driven economy. ATTOM multi-sources property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, and neighborhood data for more than 155 million U.S. residential and commercial properties covering 99 percent of the nation’s population. A rigorous data management process involving more than 20 steps validates, standardizes, and enhances the real estate data collected by ATTOM, assigning each property record with a persistent, unique ID — the ATTOM ID. The 30TB ATTOM Data Warehouse fuels innovation in many industries including mortgage, real estate, insurance, marketing, government and more through flexible data delivery solutions that include ATTOM Cloud, bulk file licenses, property data APIs, real estate market trends, property navigator and more. Also, introducing our newest innovative solution, making property data more readily accessible and optimized for AI applications – AI-Ready Solutions.

Media Contact:
Megan Hunt
Megan.hunt@attomdata.com

Data and Report Licensing:
949.502.8313
datareports@attomdata.com

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Bobby Lehew Named commonsku’s Chief AI Officer — an Industry First in Promo

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April 20, 2026

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TORONTO, April 20, 2026 /CNW/ – commonsku, the connected workflow platform trusted by 950+ distributors driving $1.9 billion in network volume, today announced the creation of a dedicated AI + Strategy role, promoting Bobby Lehew to Chief AI Officer to lead the company’s AI initiative for customers and the platform. The move makes commonsku the first platform in the promotional products industry to invest at the leadership level in AI strategy shaped directly by distributor needs.

The new role bridges the gap between what AI can do and what commonsku’s customers need it to solve, owning the intelligence loop between customers, product, and the AI landscape. What makes the role distinct: it combines AI landscape intelligence, product strategy influence, direct customer engagement, and industry thought leadership in a single role.

A Natural Evolution

Lehew brings more than 30 years of experience in the promotional products industry to the role. Prior to joining commonsku, he was the CEO of Robyn Promotions, a company among the first wave of distributors who architected the model of technology driven e-commerce company stores in the industry, earning three consecutive Inc. 5000 rankings. Always tech-forward in his work, his industry recognition includes multiple Gold and Silver PPAI Pyramid Awards.

The shift to AI strategy is a natural next chapter for Lehew. At commonsku, he built the company’s content engine from scratch — co-hosting the skucast (350+ episodes, the #1 promotional products podcast) while leaning heavily into AI for all his work. He is editor of The AI Promo Brief, the industry’s go-to resource for AI developments in promotional products, and speaks frequently on the future of merch and the cultural shifts transforming how we sell. At PPAI Expo 2026, his AI session packed the room to capacity and was named a must-attend session by PPAI editors. The industry has been watching Lehew move deeper into AI for over a year. This role makes it official.

Investing in AI for Customers

“The industry is at an inflection point with AI, and distributors need a partner who understands their business,” said Catherine Graham, CEO of commonsku. “commonsku has always been built ‘by promo, for promo.’ Bobby has three decades of that expertise, a passion for helping our customers, and the strategic insight to shape AI tools for future growth. This role reflects our mission: making sure our AI tools solve real problems for real distributors.”

“The companies pulling ahead are the ones leading with customer intelligence – letting what they learn from their community shape what they build and advancing with the frontier of AI development. That’s what this role is designed to do. I’ll be talking with our customers at every level about AI and making sure the features we build make work smarter, drive growth, and eliminate friction.” said Lehew.

“Bobby and I have been creative partners for years, always pushing each other to see around corners for this industry,” said Mark Graham, President of commonsku. “We’ve launched multiple projects together and helped educate and raise the standard for what the future distributor can look like. This role is a natural evolution of that passion. He deeply understands the industry and the distributor’s pain points, and he sees with us an incredible opportunity with AI. We’re thrilled to build commonsku’s AI future together.”

commonsku’s AI investments are already in motion. The skubot Mockup Generator is in beta with Advanced and Enterprise customers, a new Opportunity Agent is entering beta as an AI-powered business intelligence tool, and the company’s immediate roadmap includes a Description Rewriter, Auto-Art Configuration, and a Presentation Generator with much more to come.

About commonsku

commonsku is the workflow platform of choice for the promotional products industry. Built by industry experts, it combines CRM, order management, and social collaboration tools in one cloud-based solution. Over 950 distributors and the industry’s largest suppliers rely on commonsku to power $1.9 billion in network volume. With commonsku, teams process more orders, work more efficiently, and grow their sales faster. Learn more at www.commonsku.com.

SOURCE commonsku

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The Oxygen Plan Corporation Files Utility Patent on O2OS™ Pre-Diagnostic Behavioral Health Architecture — Measurement, Routing, Reimbursement, Governance; 2008 Prior Art

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April 20, 2026

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Four-layer architecture spans measurement, routing, reimbursement, and governance. 2008 filing predates the Apple App Store and the current generation of digital behavioral health platforms.

MINNEAPOLIS, April 20, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — The Oxygen Plan Corporation today filed a Track One (prioritized examination) utility patent application covering the O2OS™ architecture — spanning measurement, routing, reimbursement, and governance — with foundational disclosures dating to April 22, 2008.

We built the pre-diagnostic measurement layer to make risk visible before it becomes a clinical event. Our role is architecture and calibration. Deployment, operations, and vertical execution sit with institutional partners. — Eric Lucas, Founder-Governor • The Oxygen Plan Corporation

O2OS™ establishes a structured, pre-diagnostic measurement framework that makes behavioral health risk visible, routable, and economically measurable before it becomes a clinical event.

The 2008 filing predates the launch of the Apple App Store.

The subsequent 2009 PCT publication predates the current generation of digital behavioral health platforms.

THE ARCHITECTURE

O2OS™ is a four-layer operating system for behavioral health:

Measurement — Stress Number™, a composite score across Home, Work, and Social domains (each scored 0–100), designed to produce a bounded, interoperable pre-diagnostic behavioral health signalRouting — Smart Referral Engine™, threshold-triggered and tri-hierarchical, designed to match individuals to appropriate resourcesReimbursement — CPT-aligned workflow support, intended to enable billing integrationGovernance — the Automated Governance Utility™, a license registry and access control layer designed to support neutrality and structured participation

The system operates as a closed-loop architecture in which pre-diagnostic measurement informs routing, routing aligns with reimbursement pathways, and governance enables coordinated operation at scale.

STRUCTURAL GAPS

Behavioral health systems currently operate with two unresolved structural gaps:

Penetration Gap — the majority of individuals remain unmeasured at the pre-diagnostic stageRouting Gap — measured individuals are not consistently routed to appropriate resources

O2OS™ is designed as a pre-diagnostic measurement and routing architecture that addresses both conditions within a unified system.

FEDERAL ALIGNMENT

O2OS™ is aligned with established federal and reimbursement pathways, including CMS Coverage with Evidence Development (CED), CPT 96127 and CPT 96138, Medicaid 1115 Waivers, HEDIS quality measures, and CMS Aim 1 for prevention and early detection.

CLINICAL VALIDATION

Stress Number™ has been validated working in collaboration with Mayo Clinic (Archives of Psychology, 2018, N=292). O2OS™ functions as a pre-diagnostic measurement layer designed to support routing toward existing clinical tools and workflows.

About The Oxygen Plan Corporation

The Oxygen Plan Corporation develops O2OS™ — a pre-diagnostic measurement, routing, reimbursement, and governance architecture for behavioral health. Foundational disclosures date to 2008 prior art, with peer-reviewed clinical validation conducted working in collaboration with Mayo Clinic.

Learn more at:

www.theoxygenplan.com

Statements describe system architecture, intended capabilities, and alignment pathways. Implementation and outcomes vary by partner, deployment, and regulatory context.

Media Contact

Chris Lechuga, The Oxygen Plan Corporation, 1 877 897-6520, chris@rockerpr.com, www.theoxygenplan.com

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West Monroe Named in Customer Experience Strategy Consulting Services Landscape by Independent Research Firm

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April 20, 2026

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Firm believes inclusion reflects its ability to connect customer experience, AI, and execution to measurable business outcomes

CHICAGO, April 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — West Monroe, a global business and technology consulting firm, announced it has been named among Notable Providers in The Customer Experience Strategy Consulting Services Landscape, Q2 2026. The report serves as a resource for executives and customer experience leaders evaluating customer experience strategy consulting providers, offering an overview of 28 providers across the market based on factors such as geographic focus, industry expertise, and business scenarios.

As organizations look to increase customer stickiness and drive growth, many are increasing investment in customer experience strategy while also exploring how AI can enable more personalized, efficient, and scalable experiences. At the same time, organizations face growing pressure to demonstrate clear business value—driving demand for partners that can embed data and AI into end-to-end customer journeys and translate those investments into measurable outcomes.

“Customer experience is evolving as AI expands what’s possible—and raises the bar for how organizations deliver it,” said Chuck Malone, Platforms & Customer Strategy Lead at West Monroe. “We believe our inclusion reflects our focus on helping clients move beyond strategy to execution, embedding data and AI into customer journeys in a way that improves engagement, strengthens retention, and delivers measurable business results.”

West Monroe brings longstanding experience helping organizations design and implement customer-centric strategies across industries including healthcare, banking, energy and utilities, insurance, and consumer & industrial products.

As part of the report, Forrester asked each provider included in the Landscape to identify the business scenarios for which clients most often engage them and highlighted extended scenarios that differentiate providers. In addition to the core business scenarios identified in the report—business assessment and analysis, customer research, and vision and strategy setting—West Monroe highlighted prioritization and roadmapping, technology transformation, and workforce enablement among the extended scenarios.

A core focus of the firm’s customer experience work is contact center and service transformation—helping organizations redesign customer journeys, modernize operations, and implement AI-enabled platforms to improve service experiences and reduce cost-to-serve.

The firm’s customer experience work has delivered measurable results for clients across industries, including:

Healthcare: Redesigned critical contact center workflows for a healthcare organization, improving first-call resolution by 68%, reducing clinic task volume by 33%, and increasing patient satisfaction.Energy & Utilities: Built a Salesforce-powered digital portal in 60 days to support solar rebate programs, reducing approval timelines by more than 60% and enabling administration of 25+ clean energy programs.Banking: Led a digital transformation for a mid-market bank, reimagining onboarding, servicing, and program management—driving more than $100M in new deposits, $550K+ in annual cost avoidance, and a 96% platform adoption rate.

Learn more about West Monroe’s customer experience services: https://www.westmonroe.com/services/customer-experience-platforms.

Forrester does not endorse any company, product, brand, or service included in its research publications and does not advise any person to select the products or services of any company or brand based on the ratings included in such publications. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. For more information, read about Forrester’s objectivity here.

About West Monroe

West Monroe is a global business and technology consulting firm passionate about creating value for our clients. We co-create solutions that accelerate results now and prepare industries to tackle what’s next. We’re excited by the possibilities that technology creates. We work with our clients to deliver on the possible, building on their goals, generating fresh insights and creating inspiring outcomes.

We excel at the intersection of industry, strategy, people and technology—always driving rapid impact. Our all-in approach comes from our unique employee ownership structure. Our clients’ success is our success. From the beginning, our growth has come from putting people at the center. Fortune and USA Today consistently celebrate West Monroe as a top workplace, and we’re recognized as a leading consultancy by Forbes and Business Insider. Let’s find more value for your business.

Share our passion at westmonroe.com

Media Inquiries
Christina Galoozis
Director, Communications & Public Relations
cgaloozis@westmonroe.com
847-302-1762

Shira Cohen
Manager, Public Relations
scohen@westmonroe.com
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