Refinance Report - August 2016

August 2016 Highlights

Total refinance volume increased in August 2016 as rates fell over the previous five months. Mortgage rates remained unchanged in August: the average interest rate on a 30-year fixes rate mortgage was 3.44 percent.

In August 2016:

• Borrowers completed 5,272 refinances through HARP, bringing total refinances from the inception of the program to 3,429,247.
• HARP volume represented 3 percent of total refinance volume.
• Six percent of the loans refinances through HARP had a loan‐to‐value ratio greater than 125 percent.

Year to date through August 2016:

• Borrowers with loan‐to‐value ratios greater than 105 percent accounted for 21 percent of the volume of HARP loans.
• Twenty-six percent of HARP refinance for underwater borrowers were for shorter-term 15- and 20‐year mortgages, which build equity faster than traditional 30‐year mortgages.
• HARP refinances represented 8 or more percent of total refinances in Florida and Georgia, more than double the 4 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.
Ten states accounted for over 60 percent of the nation's HARP eligible loans with a refinance incentive as of March 31, 2016.