I just read a report on Bloomberg.com stating that only 25% of the 80,000 loans that have been refinanced by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since April of 2009 have loan-to-value ratios exceeding 80%. I am utterly dismayed.
I’m dismayed because there are an estimated 5 million Americans with mortgage balances that are higher than their home’s worth and with interest rates exceeding 6%. Folks, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now refinancing loans up to 125% of the value of a home. This is an incredible opportunity that many of you are letting slide by. If you have a $200,000 mortgage and are paying 6.5% in interest you stand to save close to $2,300 a year if you can get a 5% mortgage. If half of the 5 million eligible Americans were to take advantage of such an opportunity there would be $5.7 billion pumped back into the economy. And as a former mortgage banker of 17 years please don’t take the position that you’ll wait until rates hit 4%. At this point we have as good a chance that interest rates will go up as they will go down.
