Refinance Report - January 2014

January 2014 Highlights

• ​Refinance volume decreased again in January as mortgage rates ranged ​between four to four and a half percent since June 2013. In January, mortgage rates decreased slightly: the average interest rate on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage fell to 4.43 percent, remaining over one perc​ent higher than the record low mortgage rates observed at the end of 2012.

• ​In January 2014, 29,974 refinances were completed through HARP, bringing the total refinances through HARP from the ​inception of the program to 3,087,933.​

• HARP volume represented 22 percent of total refinance volume in​ January.
• In January 2014, 12 percent of the loans refinanced through HARP had a loan-to-value ratio greater than 125 percent.​
• In January, borrowers with loan-to-value ratios greater than 105 percent accounted for 30 percent of the volume of 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.​
• In January 2014, 23 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.
• In January 2014, HARP refinances represented 42 percent of total refinances in Georgia and 40 percent in Florida, nearly double ​the 22 percent of total refinances nationwide over the same period.​​