Refinance Report - Fourth Quarter 2018

Fourth Quarter 2018 Highlights​ 

Total refinance volume decreased in December 2018 after mortgage rates rose in previous months. Mortgage rates decreased in December: the average interest rate on a 30‐year fixed rate mortgage fell to 4.64 percent from 4.87 percent in November.

In the Fourth Quarter of 2018:

• Borrowers completed 1,390 refinances through HARP, bringing total refinances from the inception of the program to 3,494,395.
• HARP volume represented one percent of total refinance volume.

Year to date through December 2018:

• Borrowers with loan‐to‐value ratios greater than 105 percent accounted for 16 percent of the volume of HARP loans.
• Thirty‐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 2 percent of total refinances in Florida and Illinois compared to 1 percent of total refinances nationwide over the same period.

• In December, 9 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.

• Nine states and one territory accounted for over 70 percent of the Nation's HARP eligible loans with a refinance incentive as of June 30, 2018.

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