Mortgage Refinancing Sinks Near a One-Decade Low on Rising Rates
Years of low interest rates have let homeowners refinance their mortgages on more favorable terms, or even cash out some of their equity to send a kid to college or redo a kitchen.
Houses stand in this aerial photograph taken above Alameda, California, U.S., on Monday, Oct. 5, 2015.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
This article is for subscribers only.
Years of low interest rates have let homeowners refinance their mortgages on more favorable terms, or even cash out some of their equity to send a kid to college or redo a kitchen.
Those were the days, my friend. An increase in U.S. mortgage interest rates is throwing ice water on the great American refi -- and choking off business for lenders. Refinancings as a share of home loan applications fell to 41.8 percent last week. With a couple of exceptions, that’s the lowest level since the financial crisis in 2008, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.