THE BASIS POINT

Almost 10 million homeowners can refi. No wait, maybe it’s 20 million!

 
 

Monday, Black Knight reported about 8.2 million homeowners could refi because of lower rates.

That day I said rates dropped since that late-July data point, so maybe 9.7 million actually qualify.

Today, Black Knight confirmed this, saying at least 9.7 million people are eligible and could save $267 a month on average. Here’s the updated chart Black Knight sent our team today.

If all of you who are eligible refinanced, you’d save an estimated $2 billion a month in aggregate. How’s that for fiscal stimulus?

This is good news, and it gets better.

Because the number qualifying homeowners might be as high as 20 million. Here’s Black Knight on why:

Keep in mind that our LTV and credit score assumptions are conservative by design – there are non-cash-out refi products available for borrowers with up to 95% LTVs. And some for those with credit scores as 680 (and even lower with reserve requirements).

So, with that caveat: disregarding the eligibility criteria, there are actually some 20 million mortgage-holders who could at least theoretically cut their current interest rate by 0.75% by refinancing at today’s rate.

So if you could use an extra couple hundred bucks a month, you must call your lender now about refi options.

These rates don’t wait for anyone, and they change daily.

Lenders get slammed when rates drop this much and often use what I jokingly call “crowd control” pricing to slow volume.

So if you’re getting a quote that seems high, just shop around a bit.

As for you homebuyers, these low rates are great news for you too. Click the Homebuyer Affordability link below for more on what this means for you.

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Reference:

2019 Mortgage Refi Boom & Homebuyer Affordability – August 2019 Update (The Basis Point)

Black Knight’s Rate Report and Methodology

 

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