Refi Share
The share of mortgage applications in a tract that were for refinancing rather than for a home purchase or another purpose.
Not shown in the tool. The data behind this family is held and kept current, but it is not one of the measures the tool offers.
The share of mortgage applications on properties in a tract that were filed to refinance an existing loan.
Regulation C defines refinancing as "a closed-end mortgage loan or an open-end line of credit in which a new, dwelling-secured debt obligation satisfies and replaces an existing, dwelling-secured debt obligation by the same borrower" (12 CFR 1003.2(p)). Lenders must report for every application "whether the covered loan is, or the application is for, a home purchase loan, a home improvement loan, a refinancing, a cash-out refinancing, or for a purpose other than" those (12 CFR 1003.4(a)(3)).
Refinance share describes what the mortgage activity in a neighborhood is for. It moves strongly with interest rates: when rates fall below what existing borrowers hold, refinance applications rise everywhere, and the share in any one tract partly reflects that national cycle. It also reflects the composition of a place, since refinancing requires existing owners with existing mortgages and accumulated equity.
Cash-out refinancing is reported as its own purpose and is not counted here. A tract can show a low refinance share while cash-out activity is high, so the two measures are read together rather than as one.
Metrics in this family#
Considerations#
Because the denominator includes all purposes, this share moves when purchase activity moves. A tract where home sales fell can show a rising refinance share with no change in refinancing itself.
Pooling three years spans a period in which prevailing mortgage rates changed, so a pooled share averages over different points in the refinance cycle rather than describing current conditions.
The register covers institutions meeting the Regulation C reporting thresholds, currently 25 closed-end mortgage loans in each of the two preceding calendar years, or 200 open-end lines of credit (CFPB). Institutions below those thresholds report nothing.
Later static releases of a given year incorporate resubmissions and late submissions (FFIEC), so recent years may still change.
The public file is the modified register, redacted and altered to protect applicant and borrower privacy (CFPB).
References#
- 112 CFR 1003.2(p)https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1003/2/
- 212 CFR 1003.4(a)(3)https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1003/4/
- 3CFPBhttps://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/changes-to-hmda-closed-end-loan-reporting-threshold/
- 4FFIEChttps://ffiec.cfpb.gov/documentation/faq/static-dataset-faq
- 5CFPBhttps://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/hmda/