Smart Borrower Blog

Archive for the ‘Mortgage Refinancing’ Category

Household Debt Hits Record High $14 Trillion

Americans now owe a total of $14.15 trillion in household debt, according to the Federal Reserve, the highest level ever recorded. Household debt grew by $601 billion in 2019, at the fastest pace since 2007, right before the financial crisis. “Mortgage originations, including refinances, increased significantly in the final quarter of 2019, with auto loan […]

Corona Virus Fears Fuels Mini-Refinance Boom

Global fears about the Corona Virus have pushed mortgage interest rates lower, which in turn has inspired many homeowners to refinance, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Refinance applications rose 5% for the week ended February 7, 2020, and they increased an astonishing 207% compared with a year ago. During the same time, the average […]

Cash-Out Refinances Grew 28% Since 2018

With home prices continuing to climb in the face of limited inventory, American homeowners have trillions of dollars in equity and they are taking advantage of it. According to real estate data firm Black Knight, cash-out refinance loans made up 52% of all refinance activity in the 2019 third quarter, up from just 24% a […]

Refinance Application Volume Shoots Up 300% Over Last Year…Thanks to Thanksgiving

Total refinance application volume jumped 314% this week compared to last year but was just 4% higher than the week before, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. And although that 300%+ number sounds jaw-dropping, it really isn’t a fair comparison as the same week last year included Thanksgiving. So of course, fewer people were out […]

Mortgage Volume Unchanged Amid Lower Rates

Long-term U.S. mortgage interest rates fell in the latest week, but it was not enticing enough to bring borrowers to the mortgage table, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA’s mortgage application index fell 0.1% during the week ended November 6, 2019, with a 2% increase in refinance requests being offset by […]

Low Mortgage Rates Squeeze Housing Inventory

Lower mortgage interest rates have increased demand for housing, pushing current market inventory down 2.5% in September, according to Realtor.com. That’s a significantly bigger decline than August’s 1.8% decrease. And the housing supply could drop even farther in coming months. Long-term mortgage interest rates have dropped to 3.5% from 5% just a year ago. That […]

Mortgage Applications Decline Again Amidst Lower Rates

Even though long-term mortgage interest rates fell last week, demand for home mortgage loans continued to drop, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA’s mortgage application volume index decreased a seasonally adjusted 3.1% in the latest week. On a yearly basis though, application demand is up 62%. The drop was led by […]

Refinances Take Off as Mortgage Rates Tank

In the wake of the plummeting interest rates, U.S. mortgage borrowers rushed to refinance in the latest week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA’s seasonally adjusted mortgage volume index rose 21.7% this week from the week before and 81% from the year before. Most of that growth came from an explosion in refinance […]

Fed Makes First Rate Cut in a Decade

The Federal Reserve voted today to lower its target interest rate by 25 basis point to a range of 2% to 2.25%, the first rate cut in 11 years. The Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) found that “the [U.S.] labor market remains strong and that economic activity has been rising at a moderate rate,” […]

Mortgage Applications Stall as Rates Increase

Long-term U.S. mortgage interest rates rose in the latest week, according to data from Freddie Mac, without having much effect on home loan application volume. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 3.75% with 0.6 point, up from 3.73% the week before. One year ago, the average rate was much higher at […]