07/02/2024
Is A Refi Surge On The Horizon?
Based on its industry-leading mortgage, real estate, and public records data sets, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) has published its July 2024 ICE Mortgage Monitor Report.
The dynamics underlying the active mortgage market’s gradual shift toward higher average rates are examined in this month’s Mortgage Monitor. Although there is still a significant bias in the market toward lower-rate mortgages, Andy Walden, VP of Research and Analysis at ICE, points out that this is shifting.
“As of May, 24% of homeowners with mortgages now have a current interest rate of 5% or higher,” Walden said. “As recently as two years ago an astonishing nine of every 10 mortgage holders were below that threshold. All in, there are 5.8M fewer sub-5% mortgages in the market today than there were at this time in 2022. This has been a slow-moving change, as borrowers with lower rates have sold their homes or, to a smaller degree, refinanced to withdraw equity.
Walden added, “The entire market is acutely aware of how elevated rates have been constraining origination volumes. But seen from another angle, the same dynamic is also serving to gradually enlarge the population of folks with high-rate mortgages who are actively waiting for the moment a refinance makes sense. This would benefit both a growing number of homeowners and lenders.”
"The entire market is acutely aware of how elevated rates have been constraining origination volumes," said Andy Walden, VP of Research and Analysis for ICE. "The same dynamic is also serving to gradually enlarge the population of folks with high-rate mortgages, who are actively waiting for the mome...
