Fannie Increases HARP Share

In August, 420,021 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans were refinanced. Activity jumped from July, when 356,091 refinances were completed.

The secondary lenders’ refinance activity was more than double the 197,071 government-sponsored enterprise refinances in August 2011.

The activity was reviewed in the Refinance Report August 2012 from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Fannie’s refinances accounted for 281,343 of August’s total, and Freddie’s activity amounted to 138,678 transactions.

Refinances closed through HARP represented 98,885 of August refinances, a few more than the 96,371 transactions a month earlier. Thanks to HARP 2.0 enhancements, the government program was far more active than in August 2011, when just 28,882 HARP refinances were completed.

While Fannie’s share of total refinances in August was just over two-thirds, the Washington, D.C.-based firm’s share of HARP volume was smaller at 57 percent.

During the eight months ended Aug. 31, HARP production totaled 618,217, with Fannie’s share at 54 percent.

Since the program was established in 2009, there have been 1,640,068 mortgages refinanced through HARP. Just over 53 percent of life-to-date activity was Fannie’s.

While the 51 percent August share of HARP production for mortgages with loan-to-value ratios in excess of 105 percent has surged from 15 percent share for all of last year and 41 percent so far this year, high-LTV share slipped from July, when 52 percent of HARP transactions had an LTV higher than 105 percent.

FHFA noted that 27 percent the loans refinanced in August through HARP had an LTV that exceeded 125 percent.

Thirty-year terms were utilized on 82 percent of HARP transactions in August, the same as the year-to-date proportion.

Two-thirds of all Nevada refinances in August were HARP transactions, the greatest HARP share of any state.