77 Percent of Refinancing Homeowners Maintain or Reduce Mortgage Debt in Second Quarter

MCLEAN, Va., Aug. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) released the results of its second quarter refinance analysis showing homeowners who refinance continue to strengthen their fiscal house.

News Facts

• In the second quarter of 2011, 77 percent of homeowners who refinanced their first-lien home mortgage either maintained about the same loan amount or lowered their principal balance by paying-in additional money at the closing table. Of these borrowers, 51 percent maintained about the same loan amount, and 26 percent of refinancing homeowners reduced their principal balance.
• "Cash-out" borrowers, those that increased their loan balance by at least five percent, represented 23 percent of all refinance loans; the average cash-out share during the 1985 to 2010 period was 46 percent.
• The median interest rate reduction for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was about 1 percentage point, or a savings of about 18 percent in interest rate. Over the first year of the refinance loan life, these borrowers will save over $1,550 in interest payments on a $200,000 loan.
• The net dollars of home equity converted to cash as part of a refinance of a conventional, prime-credit home mortgage was an estimated $7.5 billion in the U.S. during the second quarter, similar to the first quarter level but substantially less than during the peak cash-out refinance volume of $83.7 billion during the second quarter of 2006. Taken together over the first two quarters of 2011 and adjusting for inflation, the amount of equity cashed-out was at the lowest level in 15 years, since the second half of 1996.
• Among the refinanced loans in Freddie Mac's analysis, the median value change of the collateral property was a negative 7 percent over the median prior loan life of five years. In comparison, the Freddie Mac House Price Index shows about a 25 percent decline in its U.S. series between March 2006 and March 2011. Thus, borrowers who refinanced in the second quarter owned homes that had held their value better than the average home, or may reflect value-enhancing improvements that owners had made to their homes during the intervening years.

Quotes

Attributed to Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist:

• "This is primarily a 'rate-and-term' market, meaning that the typical homeowner is looking to cut their interest rate or shorten their loan term. More than three-in-four borrowers are keeping their loan balance about the same or reducing their loan balance when they refinance.
• "Savvy homeowners are taking advantage of some of the lowest fixed-rates in more than 50 years to lock in interest savings. Over the first half of 2011, fixed-rate mortgage rates hit a low during June, with 30-year product averaging 4.50 percent and 15-year averaging 3.68 percent over the last four weeks of June, according to our Primary Mortgage Market Survey."

Get the latest information from Freddie Mac's Office of the Chief Economist on Twitter: @FreddieMac

Cash-out Refinance Analyses Information

These estimates come from a sample of properties on which Freddie Mac has funded two successive conventional, first-mortgage loans, and the latest loan is for refinance rather than for purchase. The analysis does not track the use of funds made available from these refinances. The analysis also does not track loans paid off in entirety, with no new loan placed.

• Quarterly Cash-Out Statistics [XLS]
• Quarterly Cash-Out Volume [XLS]

Related Links

Current and Previous Cash-Out Refinance information

Freddie Mac House Price Index (FMHPI SM)

Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS®)

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Freddie Mac was established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation's residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities across the nation by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and more than five million renters. For more information, visit www.Freddiemac.com.

SOURCE Freddie Mac