Conventional mortgage-backed security prepayments slowed in December, in what Barclays Capital called "the end of the 2010 refinancing 'wavelet,' " in a report released late Thursday.
In a separate report, Credit Suisse said 30-year conventional mortgage prepayments dropped by 6% from November.
Barclays forecast that the sharp sell-off in rates at the end of 2010 would prompt further prepayment declines in coming months.
Record-low rates during much of 2010 had prompted somewhat of a pickup in refinancings. But it was widely considered more of a refi "boomlet" than a full refinancing "boom" because developments in the wake of the recent recession limited the extent to which some potential borrowers could get loans.
Barriers to origination have included tighter underwriting standards and home equity constraints.
