Refinance Report - January 2016

Total refinance volume fell slightly in January 2016 as mortgage rates hovered just below four percent over the previous five months. Mortgage rates decreased in January: the average interest rate on a 30‐ year fixed rate mortgage fell to 3.87 percent from 3.96 percent in December.

Additional January highlights include the following:

• Borrowers completed 6,239 refinances through HARP, bringing total refinances from the inception of the program to 3,386,793.
• HARP volume represented 5 percent of total refinance volume.
• Borrowers with loan‐to‐value ratios greater than 105 percent accounted for 21 percent of the volume of HARP loans.
• Seven percent of the loans refinanced through HARP had a loan‐to‐value ratio greater than 125 percent.
• Twenty three 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 11 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.