Tag Archives: Refinances

Freddie Mac cited a number of positive opportunities for housing in 2015—but households and businesses should take advantage of them early, because some of them aren't expected to last.

Monthly data released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) shows Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac together reported 134,582 refinances in November 2014, down from nearly 139,000 in October. As overall refinancing fell, so too did the number of mortgages refinanced under the Obama administration's Home Affordable Refinance Program.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Wednesday that mortgage application volumes jumped by a seasonally adjusted 49.1 percent for the week ending January 9. The surge—the largest weekly increase since 2008, MBA said—followed a sharp drop in 2014's closing weeks.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) seasonally adjusted mortgage application index ticked up 0.9 percent for the week ending December 19, the trade group reported Wednesday. Unadjusted, the index rose 0.4 percent.

According to Freddie's monthly volume summary, released Monday, the company's total portfolio ended November at an estimated $1.9 trillion, up an annualized 0.4 percent. Year-to-date, the portfolio's growth rate is an average -0.7 percent, the result of six straight months of declines through the year's first half and an additional month of contraction in August.

Total mortgage application volumes increased 7.3 percent for the week ending December 5, according to survey data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The jump, which includes seasonal adjustments, followed a drop of the same amount the week prior.

Based on weekly application data released by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), macroeconomics firm Capital Economics calculated a 0.3 percent increase in mortgage applications last month. The meager uptick compares to a 10.1 percent surge in October.

Together, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reported 389,284 refinances throughout the third quarter, according to their conservator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The figure compares to a total of 344,507 in the second quarter. As refinance volumes rose, the share of refinances completed through the government's Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) fell further.

MBA's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, a closely watched measure of application volumes, dropped 4.3 percent for the week ending November 21, the group said Wednesday. The decline followed a 4.9 percent bump during the previous week, which included an adjustment for Veterans Day.

In its latest Origination Insight Report, released Thursday, mortgage technology provider Ellie Mae reported that refinancing activity accounted for 40 percent of overall mortgage volume in October, marking the highest level since March. Despite the increase in demand, lenders were able to improve their closing time on refinance loans.