FHFA: Refinance Report
Investor Update
December 14, 2017
October 2017 Highlights
- Total refinance volume increased in October 2017 as mortgage rates in September remained below the levels observed at the beginning of the year. Mortgage rates increased in October: the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage rose to 3.90 percent from 3.81 percent in September.
In October 2017:
- Borrowers completed 2,184 refinances through HARP, bringing total refinances from the inception of the program to 3,479,901.
- HARP volume represented 2 percent of total refinance volume.
- Seven percent of the loans refinanced through HARP had a loan-to-value ratio greater than 125 percent.
Year to date through October 2017:
- Borrowers with loan-to-value ratios greater than 105 percent accounted for 19 percent of the volume of HARP loans.
- Twenty-six percent of HARP refinances for underwater borrowers were for shorter-term 15- and 20-year mortgages, which build equity faster than traditional 30-year mortgages.
- HARP refinances represented 5 or more percent of total refinances in Nevada, Illinois, and Florida — more than double the 2 percent of total refinances nationwide over the same period.
- Borrowers who refinanced through HARP had a lower delinquency rate compared to borrowers eligible for HARP who did not refinance through the program.
- Nine states and one U.S. territory accounted for over 60 percent of the nation’s HARP eligible loans with a refinance incentive as of June 30, 2017.
Attachments: Refinance Report – October 2017
Source: FHFA