Refinance Report - First Quarter 2016

First Quarter 2016 Highlights

Total refinance volume increased in March 2016 after a decrease in mortgage rates in January and February. Mortgage rates rose in March: the average interest rate on a 30‐year fixed rate mortgage rose to 3.69 percent from 3.66 percent in February.

In the first quarter of 2016:

• Borrowers completed 19,989 refinances through HARP,bringing total refinances from the inception of the program to 3,400,543.
• HARP volume represented 5 percent of total refinance volume.
• Borrowers with loan‐to‐value ratios greater than 105 percent accounted for 22 percent of the volume of HARP loans.
• Twenty five 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 10 or more percent of total refinances in Florida and Georgia, double the 5 percent of total refinances nationwide over the same period.

In March 2016, 6 percent of the loans refinanced through HARP had a loan‐to‐value ratio greater than 125 percent.

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 December 31, 2015.