Although monthly refinances of government-sponsored enterprise mortgages retreated, annual GSE refinance production increased by more than a third.
There were
136,622 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac residential loans that were refinanced by primary mortgage originators during the final month of last year.
The findings were based on a Mortgage Daily analysis of data reported by the companies’ regulator and conservator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
GSE refinances dropped from November, when 146,664 Fannie and Freddie loans were refinanced.
Volume tumbled from the 158,882 GSE refinances in December
2014. The year-earlier figure was revised down by four from the original report.
For all of last year, GSE refinances totaled
2,084,949, a healthy increase from the 1,536,788 home loans refinanced in all of 2014.
Refinances of Fannie mortgages rose to 1,187,896 in 2015 from 936,755 the previous year.
Freddie loans that were refinanced expanded to 897,049 from 600,033 in 2014.
Included in December 2015 volume were 5,878 GSE loans closed through the Home Affordable Refinance Program.
HARP volume tumbled from 7,446 a month earlier and plunged from 11,160 a year earlier.
Full-year 2015 HARP production, however,
was up to 267,043 from the previous year’s 212,488 transactions.
Since the inception of HARP in 2009, 3,380,558 mortgages have been refinanced through the program.
“FHFA estimates that as of third quarter 2015, more than 367,600 borrowers nationwide still have a financial incentive to refinance through HARP before the program expires in December 2016,” the report stated.
