St Casimirs Mortgage Minute

HARP Refinances Continue Dropping

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage refinances rebounded in the third quarter, while refinances through the GSEs’ Home Affordable Refinance Program continued to slide, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said on Wednesday -- an indication that housing market distress is easing.

 Total refinances rose 13 percent to 389,000 in the third quarter, while HARP refinances dropped 18 percent from the second quarter to 44,100. Fannie and Freddie have refinanced more than 3.2 million loans through HARP since the program was launched in 2009.

 

 

 

Mortgage Rates Remain Low

The rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.97 percent last week, slightly down from the previous week’s 3.99 percent, Freddie Mac said on Thursday. At this time last year, the 30-year FRM rate averaged 4.29 percent. Last week’s 15-year FRM was unchanged at 3.17 percent. A year ago, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.3 percent


--ABA Daily Newsbytes