Call it the End of the Great Refi Boom.
Lower interest rates used to spark stampedes of homeowners looking to save a few bucks—or pull some cash out of their home equity piggy bank.
But the recent sharp drop in interest rates is not expected to bring hoards of refinancers out of the woodwork. “The refinance boom is over,” declared Freddie Mac chief economist Fred Nothaft in the agency’s latest refinancing report on second-quarter mortgage volume.
The report noted—for the first time since rates began tumbling in 2008—more mortgages are being written for purchases than for refinancing.
But what a boom it was. Freddie Mac estimates since 2000, American borrowers saved some $70 billion in interest payments from home loan refinancings.
via Freddie Mac report: Here’s why the mortgage refi boom is over.