This report is a follow-up to last week’s coverage of federal findings that 2 in 5 borrowers would save $1200 or more annually with a refinance.
Last year we sometimes talked on this blog about how we were going through a Refinancing Boom, with rates that repeatedly broke records and hovered near those all-time lows. The Boom was simply based on data: the Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) from Freddie Mac reached rates never before seen in its 50+ years tracking average interest rates in the United States.
The Refinancing Boom really hit full swing during the summer but continued through fall and winter to the spring of 2021. Now in July, the Refinancing Boom continues! While the rates are expected to rise somewhat by the end of the year, the fact is that today, nearly 14 million homeowners can still benefit from refinancing.
Black Knight: 13.8 million could benefit from a refi
The new data (July 12, 2021) from mortgage analytics company Black Knight backs up last week’s analysis, which used statistics from a May 12 Research Note by Freddie Mac. The mounting evidence points to how large a population of households who would be acting in their best interests to refinance have not yet acted far into this rate deep-dive. According to Black Knight, 13.8 million US homeowners fall within its “high-quality candidate” category for refinancing currently. These families could save approximately $290 per month by refinancing. The figure is up from April, when only 11.1 million could have saved with a refi, for a lower average savings of $277 per month.
What are RefiNow and Refi Possible?
You may have heard of RefiNow and Refi Possible. These two refinance programs, by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, are intended to simplify applying for a refi and motivate more people to get the savings. We can process federal refinancing applications and recommend them when they make sense for borrowers.
Study: Racial/ethnic minority groups can benefit in higher percentages
While the Freddie Mac finding that 2 in 5 borrowers should refinance was eye-opening, the data was particularly shocking related to the racial/ethnic minorities included within the study. Here were the percentages for all borrowers and for the three racial/ethnic groups assessed:
Monthly Savings > $200: All = 15%; Black = 20%; Hispanic = 19%; White = 13%
Monthly Savings > $150: All = 24%; Black = 32%; Hispanic = 31%; White = 23%
Monthly Savings > $100: All = 40%; Black = 49%; Hispanic = 47%; White = 38%
Get your best rate
Do you think refinancing today could be the right choice for you? “This is a great company to refinance with,” Nathan Lee wrote of Best Advantage Mortgage in a 5-Star Google Review (5.0 / 45 reviews) two months ago. “They answered every questions quickly and got me to closing within two weeks of initiating the process.” Apply now.