Borrowers Refi Lowers Many Mortgage Rates By 17% Or More

The first three quarters of this year marked the smallest total equity cashed out since 2000. The numbers

 were adjusted based on inflation by the total equity cashed out so far in 2009 has been $60 billion. 

Nationwide the share of refinance loans resulting in new mortgages that were 5% or more higher than the paid-off first mortgage balance fell to a six-year low of 36%. 

The amount of interest-rate reduction in the U.S. since the beginning of the year adds up to about $3 billion in payment savings over the first 12 months of the new loan.  Half of borrowers who refinanced a conventional loan lowered their annual mortgage interest rate by at least 17% as new interest rate was about 1.1 percentage points below the old rate. 

In the first three quarters of 2009 interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have averaged 5.1 – the lowest in the 38-year history of Freddie Mac’s mortgage survey.