Refinance Report - Second Quarter 2018

Second Quarter 2018 Highlights

Total refinance volume decreased in June 2018 as mortgage rates rose in May, continuing a trend first observed in October 2017. Mortgage rates decreased in June: the average interest rate on a 30‐year fixed rate mortgage fell to 4.57 percent from 4.59 percent in May.

In the second quarter of 2018:

• Borrowers completed 2,973 refinances through HARP, bringing total refinances from the inception of the program to 3,491,140.
• HARP volume represented 1 percent of total refinance volume.

Year to date through June 2018:

• Borrowers with loan‐to‐value ratios greater than 105 percent accounted for 16 percent of the volume of HARP loans.
• Thirty-two 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 compared to 1 percent of total refinances nationwide over the same period.

In June 2018, 3 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 70 percent of the nation's HARP eligible loans with a refinance incentive as of March 31, 2018.

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