FHFA Refinance Report – August 2018
Source: FHFA
August 2018 Highlights
- Total refinance volume increased in August 2018 as mortgage rates in July fell, continuing a trend also observed in June. Mortgage rates increased in August: the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage rose to 4.55 percent from 4.53 percent in July.
In August 2018:
- Borrowers completed 651 refinances through HARP, bringing total refinances from the inception of the program to 3,492,487 .
- HARP volume represented 1 percent of total refinance volume.
- Five percent of the loans refinanced through HARP had a loan‐to‐value ratio greater than 125 percent.
Year to date through August 2018:
- Borrowers with loan‐to‐value ratios greater than 105 percent accounted for 16 percent of the volume of HARP loans.
- Thirty-three 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 3 percent of total refinances in Illinois compared to 1 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.
- Ten states accounted for over 70 percent of the nation’s HARP eligible loans with a refinance incentive as of March 31, 2017.
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