Refinance Report - February 2018

February 2018 Highlights

Total refinance volume decreased in February 2018 as mortgage rates rose in January. Mortgage rates increased in February: the average interest rate on a 20-year fixed rate mortgage rose to 4.33 percent from 4.03 percent in January, reaching levels last observed in 2014. 

In February 2018:

• Borrowers completed 1,292 refinances through HARP, bringing total refinances from the inception of the program to 3,486,875. 
• HARP volume represented 1 percent of total refinance volume. 
• Three percent of the loans refinanced through HARP had a loan-to-value ratio greater than 125 percent. 

Year to date through February 2018: 

• Borrowers with loan‐to‐value ratios greater than 105 percent accounted for 15 percent of the volume of HARP loans. 
• Thirty-one 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 3 percent of total refinances in Illinois -- triple the 1 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.
• Nine states and one U.S. territory accounted for over 70 percent of the nation's HARP eligible loans with a refinance incentive as of September 30, 2017.