Posted on 04/09/2013 6:18:44 PM PDT by whitedog57
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today released its January 2013 Refinance Report, which shows that refinance volume remained high through the first month of this year. There were nearly 470,000 refinances in January, with roughly 97,600 completed through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). This brings total HARP refinances to more than 2.2 million since the program’s inception in April 2009.
• Borrowers in January with loan-to-value ratios greater than 105 percent accounted for 47 percent of the HARP refinance volume. • The number of completed HARP refinances for deeply underwater borrowers continued to represent a significant portion of total HARP volume. In January, 25 percent of the loans refinanced through HARP had a loan-to-value ratio greater than 125 percent. • HARP continued to account for a substantial portion of total refinance volume in certain states. In January, 66 percent of total refinances in Nevada and 56 percent of total refinances in Florida were through HARP. • Also in January, 18 percent of HARP refinances for underwater borrowers were for shorter-term 15- and 20-year mortgages, which build equity faster than traditional
As you can see, January was a down month for HARP refinancings. The Fed’s “dull hammer” zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) may be running out of steam.
WHERE were the HARP refinancings? The vacation/retirement states of Nevada, Arizona, California and Florida. And don’t forget about Idaho.
To be sure, not all mortgages were related to second homes, vacation properties and retirement homes. But these states clearly had the largest concentration of second homes, retirement homes and vacation properties. Face it, snowbirds pick warm climates, not North Dakota.
Idaho is an honorary sand state.
Those were also big real estate bubble markets so it stands to reason that more refinancing under a program intended to allow underwater mortgages to be refinanced to more favorable terms with the objective being the avoidance of foreclosure would be made there.
Because fewer people buy into the false concept of “home ownership”, since even if you bought property with cash, and pay all the forever annual taxes due, it isn’t ever really going to be something you can say you “own” .
POTUS said, You don’t own that! You didn’t build that!
Tell me why it makes any sense nowadays to pretend to “buy” something you will never actually own?
For the investment value?
ROTFLMAO!
Might some of those refis going to illegal aliens?
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