Refinance Report - Fourth Quarter 2013

Fourth Quarter 2013 Highlights

• Refinance volume decreased again in December as mortgage rates ranged between four to four and a half percent since June. In December, mortgage rates rose: the average interest rate on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage reached 4.46 percent, over one percent more than the record low mortgage rate observed at the end of 2012.​
• In the fourth quarter 2013, 115,140 refinances were completed through HARP, bringing the total refinances through HARP from ​the inception of the program to 3,057,958.​
• HARP volume represented 23 percent of total refinance volume during the fourth quarter.​
• In December 2013, 14 percent of the loans refinanced through HARP had a loan-to-value ratio greater than 125 percent.​​​
• Year-to-date through December 2013, borrowers with loan-to-value ratios greater than 105 percent accounted for 40 percent of the volume to HARP loans
• Borrowers who refinanced through HARP had a lower delinquency rate compared to borrowers eligible for HARP who did not refinance through the program.​
• Year-to-date through December 2013, 20 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.
• Year-to-date through December 2013, HARP refinances represented 54 percent of total refinances in N​evada and 48 percent in Florida, more than double the 22 percent of total refinances nationwide over the same period.​