After sinking in May, refinances of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans bounced higher — though activity remains anemic compared to a year earlier.
U.S. mortgage bankers refinanced 119,897 government-sponsored enterprise mortgages during June, according to an analysis of data provided by their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
GSE refinance volume rose from 107,320 in May — a month that saw the second-lowest level of refinances since November 2008.
But volume nose dived from June of last year, when 400,782 Fannie and Freddie mortgages were refinanced by the nation’s loan originators.
Washington-based Fannie accounted for 72,751 of June’s refinances, up from 66,983 a month earlier but plummeting from 238,303 a year earlier.
At Freddie, refinances increased to 47,096 from 40,337 in May. The McLean, Va.-based company’s year-earlier total was 162,479.
GSE refinances that were closed through the Home Affordable Refinance Program totaled 17,788 during the most recent month, inching up from 16,565 in May.
As was the case with overall refinance volume, HARP activity plunged from June 2013, when 88,375 mortgages were refinanced through the program.
HARP went live in April 2009. Since that time, 3,188,926 residential loans have been refinanced through the program.
“Borrowers who refinanced through HARP had a lower delinquency rate compared to borrowers eligible for HARP who did not refinance through the program​,” the report stated.
