Despite a 35% decline in overall residential fundings in the first quarter, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continued to purchase refinanced, high-loan-to-value loans at a decent clip under the Home Affordable Refinance Program.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that the government-sponsored enterprises refinanced 139,200 borrowers with LTV ratios greater than 80% and up to 125% during the first quarter, down 8% from the previous quarter.
According to the FHFA's quarterly GSE performance report, refinancings of underwater borrowers (LTVs greater than 105% and up to 125%) jumped by more than 50%.
Fannie and Freddie refinanced nearly 16,900 of underwater GSE-guaranteed loans in the first quarter, compared with 10,750 units in the fourth quarter.
Freddie refinanced roughly 10,750 of the high-LTV loans, while Fannie refinanced 6,150.
Overall, the GSEs refinanced 1.02 million loans in the first quarter, down from 1.37 million in the previous quarter.
In a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Freddie reported that refinancings made up about 85% of the loans it purchased for its single-family credit guarantee portfolio in the first quarter. Fannie said roughly 82% of its purchases involved refinanced mortgages.
