Although monthly refinances of Federal National Mortgage Association loans moved higher, a decline in refinances of Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. loans left volume at the lowest level in a least seven years.
Refinances of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac residential loans by primary home lenders during May came to 103,748, the Federal Housing Finance Agency reported.
Transaction volume dipped from a downwardly revised 104,862 the preceding month to the slowest month on record since at least May 2011 based on the oldest data reported by FHFA.
In the same month last year, there were a downwardly revised 116,880 government-sponsored enterprise mortgages refinanced.
Refinances of Fannie Mae mortgages numbered 61,631 during the most recent month, rising from 60,757 in April.
But Freddie Mac refinances
retreated to 42,117 in May from 44,105.
The report indicated that 1,077 refinances were processed through the Home Affordable Refinance program, a few more than the record-low 1,017 HARP transactions in April. During May 2017, there were 3.291 refinances processed through the program.
HARP production since the program was launched in April 2009 came to 3,490,261.
