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Refinance Report

Refinance Report - January 2019

Published: 3/14/2019
  • Total refinance volume in January 2019 was similar to December as mortgage rates fell in December after rising in previous months.  Mortgage rates decreased in January: the average interest rate on a 30‐year fixed rate mortgage fell to 4.46 percent from 4.64 percent in December.

In January 2019:

    • Borrowers completed 438 refinances through HARP, bringing total refinances from the inception of the program to 3,494,833. 
    • 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.
    • Borrowers with loan‐to‐value ratios greater than 105 percent accounted for 21 percent of the volume of HARP loans.
    • Thirty-one 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 2 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.
  • Nine states and one territory accounted for over 70 percent of the nation's HARP eligible loans with a refinance incentive as of June 30, 2018.
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