Refinance loans saw more closings than any other mortgage loan in January, with refis representing 45 percent of all closed loans, according to the monthly Origination Insight Report published by Ellie Mae on Wednesday. The percentage of FHA refinances increased to 28 percent of ...
Read More »Refinance Volumes Increased in November 2017
More borrowers refinanced through FHFA’s HARP program in November on the back of mortgage rates that remained lower in October 2017, according to an FHFA report.
Read More »Housing Market 2018: Predicting What’s to Come
What are the trends that will define the year to come? ValueInsured Founder and CEO Joe Melendez sets his sights on the shape of the 2018 housing and mortgage market.
Read More »HARP Refinances Recover from Previous Spike
The drop in HARP refinance volume follows a spike in Q3 and Q4 2016. The FHFA reports that borrowers completed 13,425 refinances through the Home Affordability Refinance Program (HARP) in Q1 2017, bringing the total amount of HARP refinances to 3,461,096. Of all refinances that quarter, HARP represented 3 percent.
Read More »FHFA Reports Drops In Refinances
According to a report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, total Refinance volume has dropped as mortgage rates have risen. In February 2017, borrowers completed 4,198 refinances through HARP, and since HARP’s inception in 2009, the program has made 3,456,422 refinances. HARP represented three percent of total refinance volume, and six percent of loans refinanced through HARP had a loan-to-value ratio greater than 125 percent.
Read More »Lenders Preferred Refinancing Over New Purchases Post-Crisis
A new study suggests that after the Fed began quantitative easing in 2008, many lenders began leaning more toward refinancing applicants than those seeking new purchase loans. This was likely due to the stronger payment history and less risk associated with these applicants. Weaker, less-capitalized banks were more likely to follow the trend.
Read More »Freddie Mac’s Mortgage Portfolio Expands For Third Straight Month
After slipping in October, purchase and issuance activity picked up again, coming to $29.5 billion, Freddie Mac reported. That was offset by an increase in sales and liquidations, which whittled the portfolio's monthly increase to about $614 million. In other monthly changes, the unpaid principal balance (UPB) of Freddie Mac's mortgage-related investments portfolio fell by approximately $4.7 billion last month, a negative annualized growth rate of 14.0 percent.
Read More »Watt Blames Homeowner Skepticism for HARP Slowdown
In a town hall style meeting in Chicago Tuesday, Mel Watt, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, blamed fear of being taken in by a scam for eligible homeowner’s reluctance to take advantage of the Home Affordable Refinance program.
Read More »HUD Settles Discrimination Claim
GFS Capital Holdings, formerly Greenlight Financial Services, settled a claim with HUD regarding discrimination of women on maternity leave. The company agreed to pay a total of $48,000 to individuals against which it allegedly discriminated. HUD investigated Greenlight after a family complained the company denied their refinance loan application because the wife was on maternity leave at the time.
Read More »Freddie Mac’s Portfolio Shrinks 2.1% in May
Freddie Mac released its monthly volume summary for May 2014, tracking information on the company's mortgage-related portfolio, securities issuance, risk management, delinquencies, debt activities, and other investments. The summary found that overall, Freddie Mac's total mortgage portfolio decreased at an annualized rate of 2.1 percent in May.
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