CoreLogic’s National Mortgage Application Fraud Risk Index has reported an increase in mortgage fraud by 10.5% in Q2 2021. According to property data company, mortgage fraud is once again on the rise after a brief dip last year, up from a 120 index reading in Q1 2021 to 132 in Q2 2021.
CoreLogic believes that this was occasioned by an increasing demand in U.S housing market, new government-sponsored enterprise requirements on investment properties and the transition to a more robust purchase market.
The firm also reported that some key industry trends were significant to the drop in refinance volume as offset by record purchase volumes in Q2, resulting in a slight decrease in overall volume from Q1. While refinances still accounted for 53% of transactions, which are down from 68% in the previous quarter. This shift in volume towards purchase loans is reflected in the increased risk indicated by the national index.
According to report, One area to watch is occupancy fraud. Stating that the top 5 states for fraud risk are Nevada, New York, Hawaii, Florida, and California. All of those states showed risk increase quarter-over-quarter. 
