Monthly refinances closed for the government sponsored enterprises were down by nearly half from a year earlier and have fallen for five consecutive months.
September saw 235,652 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinances completed, according to data reported by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Refinance volume fell from the previous month, when 302,373 Fannie and Freddie refinance transactions were completed.
Volume has been lower each month since April, when 463,586 Fannie and Freddie refinances closed.
Activity plummeted from the same month last year, when FHFA reported that 431,341 GSE refinances closed.
On a quarterly basis, Fannie and Freddie refinances totaled 898,120 in the three months ended Sept. 30.
Volume sank from 1,282,367 refinances completed in the second quarter and 1,207,439 loans refinanced in the third-quarter 2012.
From Jan. 1 through Sept. 30, GSE refinances totaled 3,575,873.
Fannie refinances accounted for 586,745 of the third-quarter total, down from 787,044 in the previous period.
Freddie’s refinances fell to 311,375 from 495,323 in the second quarter.
Refinances closed through the Home Affordable Refinance Program totaled 203,536 in the third quarter, falling from 279,933 three months earlier and 319,247 a year earlier.
Fannie’s third-quarter HARP volume fell to 129,971 from 169,356, and Freddie’s HARP production dropped to 73,565 from the second quarter’s 110,577.
Combined, 2,942,817 Fannie and Freddie HARP transactions have closed since the program started in April 2009.
