Fannie Mae Refinancing Volume Jumps

Fannie Mae’s (FNM) refinancing volume jumped to more than $41 billion in February, nearly three times the refinancing volume the company experienced during the month of January and the largest refinancing volume in nearly a year, the company said Wednesday. “Borrowers are increasingly taking advantage of the low mortgage rates available in the market today,” said Tom Lund, executive vice president, Single-Family Mortgage Business.  “We anticipate that volumes will increase even more as millions of additional homeowners become eligible to refinance under the President’s Making Home Affordable plan.” Fannie Mae reported that more than 100,000 borrowers have already accessed its online mailbox to inquire about their eligibility for refinancing under the Obama Administration’s refinancing plan, and about 50,000 callers have contacted Fannie Mae’s national hotline since the plan was announced. The company said it has also launched a new online look-up tool on its Web site that will allow borrowers to quickly determine if they have a Fannie Mae-held mortgage — a determining factor in whether a borrower is eligible for the program. A separate report Tuesday emphasized the growing number of inquiries over the new plan. The Homeownership Preservation Foundation, which operates a separate hotline, Homeowner’s HOPE Hotline  — one meant to counsel homeowners —  announced that over 13,500 homeowners have reached out to its free service each day since the President’s announcement of the program, about three times the average number of daily calls received prior to the release of the program. The Making Home Affordable program is made up of two levels of aid — one being a refinance program effective for an estimated 4 to 5 million homeowners. And Given the recent historically low mortgage rates, homeowners have a strong incentive to try and refinance. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported last week an 11.3 percent week-over-week surge in application volume –two-thirds of which were from homeowners who wanted to refinance. Write to Kelly Curran at [email protected]. Disclosure: The author held no relevant investment positions when this story was published. Indirect holdings may exist via mutual fund investments. HW reporters and writers follow a strict disclosure policy, the first in the mortgage trade