The latest monthly tally of government-sponsored enterprise refinances indicates that volume was stronger than it’s been during any month in more than three years.
An analysis of quarterly data provided by the Federal Housing Finance Agency indicates there were 250,534 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinances in September.
Historical data from the regulator indicates that monthly refinance volume has not been that strong since August 2013, when there were 302,370 GSE refinances.
Refinance production totaled 206,091 in August 2016 and
143,332 in September 2015.
The latest total included 155,700 Federal National Mortgage Association
loan refinances and 94,834 refinances of Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. loans.
But the volume of mortgages refinanced through the Home Affordable Refinance Program slowed — to 5,204 in September 2016 from 5,272 a month earlier. A year earlier, HARP originations totaled 9,062.
Since
HARP was launched in April 2009, there have been 3,434,451 mortgages refinance through the program.
“According to new data released today, 242,512 borrowers are still eligible for HARP as of the second quarter of 2016,” FHFA stated in an accompanying statement. “These borrowers meet the basic HARP eligibility requirements, have a remaining balance of $50,000 or more on their mortgage, have a remaining term on their loan of greater than 10 years, and their mortgage interest rate is at least 1.5 percent higher than current market rates.
“These borrowers could save, on average, $2,400 per year by refinancing their mortgage through HARP.”
