Refinance Report - August 2015

August 2015 Highlights

• Refinance volume decreased in August 2015 after a three month rise in mortgage rates through July. Mortgage rates fell in August: the average interest rate on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage dropped to 3.91 percent.
• In August 2015, 7,496 refinances were completed through HARP, bringing the total refinances through HARP from the inception of the program to 3,350,410.
• HARP volume represented 5 percent of total refinance volume in August 2015.
• Year to date through August 2015, borrowers with loan‐to‐value ratios greater than 105 percent accounted for 24 percent of the volume of HARP loans.
• In August 2015, 8 percent of the loans refinanced through HARP had a loan‐to‐value ratio greater than 125 percent.
• Year to date through August 2015, 29 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 August 2015, HARP refinances represented 12 or more percent of total refinances in Florida and Georgia, more than double the 5 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.