Continued increases to home prices along with low interest rates have prompted a number of borrowers to take cash out when completing a refinance. Some 41.0 percent of refinances completed in the second quarter of 2016 resulted in a loan amount at least 5.0 percent higher than the unpaid principal balance of the original loan, according to Freddie Mac. In the second quarter of 2015, the share was 33.0 percent and between 2010 and 2013 it typically ranged from 15.0 percent to 20.0 percent, according to Freddie. The total amount of home equity cashed out has also increased...
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data released last week show a somewhat more efficient mortgage market in 2015 as fewer loan applications were declined and more turned into originated loans. Lenders processed $2.576 trillion in mortgage applications filed in 2015, converting them into $1.651 trillion in purchase and refinance originations, a 32.9 percent increase from the previous year. Some 56.5 percent of loan apps turned into closed loans, up from 53.8 percent in 2014, and the overall denial rate fell 2.9 points to 20.1 percent. Most of last year’s origination surge came...[Includes one data table]
A group of New York Baptist clergy, mostly in Harlem and the Bronx, has joined the chorus of those raising concerns about potential Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reform efforts that would compromise affordable housing goals. In a letter to Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, the 38 religious leaders echoed fears raised by other groups that Congress might hand the government-sponsored enterprises’ business over to big banks. They contend that the biggest banks have “consistently displayed a disinterest” in lending to minority-based communities and lack a “duty to serve” commitment comparable to the one the GSEs have. “Efforts to transfer the mortgage securitization platforms of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into the hands of the big banks create...
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