Rate Locks Up Slightly in August

Rate locks were up slightly in August thanks to an increase in cash-out refinance activity, according to Black Knight’s latest monthly report…(Black Knight)

  • Rate locks for purchases (-0.8%) and rate/term refinance (+0.5%) were essentially unchanged from the previous month.
  • Cash-out refinance locks were up 7.6% helping to keep overall rate lock volume in positive territory for August. Cash-out refinance lending is now up more than 41% over the last three months and nearly 30% since the same time last year.

NOTE: The increase in cash-out activity was enough to push the overall shares of refinances back above 50% for the first time since February.

Scott Happ, Black Knight Secondary Marketing Technologies President, said that the growth in cash-out refis shouldn’t be surprising and more than likely still has room to grow…

  • “We’ve now seen cash-out activity increase for three consecutive months, and with $173,000 in equity available to the average homeowner with a mortgage and home prices still climbing, there is still room in the market for growth.”

IMPORTANT NOTE: The average credit score held firm at 731 and the month-end conforming rate was up 6 basis points to 3.05% in August.