Monthly government-sponsored enterprise refinances jumped to the highest level in more than a year. Government-supported refinances, however, fell to a new low.
Loan originators refinanced 158,886 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages during the final month of last year, according to an analysis of data provided by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Refinance production moved up compared to the month of November, when 134,582 residential loans owned or managed by the GSEs were refinanced.
Volume was also up from December 2013, when the number was 150,868.
In fact, the last time GSE refinance production was this high was in in November 2013 — a month that saw 163,546 refinances.
Refinances of just Fannie loans rose to 99,086 during December 2014 from the previous month’s 83,046.
At
McLean, Va.-based Freddie, 59,800 of its loans were refinanced during the most-recent month, rising from 51,536 in November.
Included in December’s total volume were 11,160 transactions closed through the Home Affordable Refinance Program.
HARP activity slowed from 12,492 a month earlier and plunged from 30,021 a year earlier.
In fact it was the lowest level of HARP production since
at least January 2011 — the oldest HARP data maintained by Mortgage Daily.
The latest period brought life-to-date HARP originations to 3,270,451 loans.
Washington-based Fannie’s HARP volume
fell to 6,354 from 7,742 in November.
HARP refinances of Freddie loans inched up, however, to 4,806 in December from 4,750.
