Fannie Mae Refinancing Volume Jumps to $41 Billion in February

/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) announced on Wednesday that the company's refinancing volume jumped to more than $41 billion in February, nearly three times the refinancing volume the company experienced during the month of January and the largest refinancing volume in nearly a year.

"Borrowers are increasingly taking advantage of the low mortgage rates available in the market today," said Tom Lund, Executive Vice President, Single-Family Mortgage Business. "We anticipate that volumes will increase even more as millions of additional homeowners become eligible to refinance under the President's Making Home Affordable plan. Providing broader access to affordable, sustainable mortgages through expanded refinancing opportunities is a critical part of preventing future foreclosures and hastening recovery."

The company also disclosed that more than 100,000 borrowers have accessed its online mailbox to inquire about their eligibility for refinancing under the Obama Administration's refinancing plan, and about 50,000 callers have contacted Fannie Mae's national hotline since the plan was announced. In addition, today the company launched a new online look-up tool on the company's Web site (www.fanniemae.com) that will allow borrowers to quickly determine if they have a Fannie Mae-held mortgage -- a determining factor in whether a borrower is eligible for the program.

Home Affordable Refinance

Fannie Mae launched its Home Affordable Refinance initiative earlier this month as part of the President's Making Home Affordable plan. Key features include:

-- Additional Flexibilities: Most borrowers refinancing an existing
Fannie Mae loan will not be required to buy new or additional mortgage
insurance if the loan at the time of the refinance is more than 80
percent of the home's value. Existing mortgage insurance must be
carried forward to the new loan. In addition, Fannie Mae can
refinance loans up to 105 percent of a home's value with this new
flexibility, so even borrowers who are "underwater" -- who owe more
than their home is worth -- may be able to refinance. This will
expand the number of borrowers able to take advantage of lower
interest rates that reduce monthly payments, or refinance into a more
sustainable mortgage.

-- Streamlined Processing: Beginning April 4, all 1,600 lenders and
29,000 mortgage brokers using Fannie Mae's Desktop Underwriter(R)
platform will be able to process an application to refinance any
existing Fannie Mae loan, allowing for greater lender origination
capacity, more consumer choice and easier refinancing for borrowers.

What Borrowers Need to Know:
-- To qualify, your mortgage loan must be owned by Fannie Mae.
-- You must have a solid payment history on your existing mortgage.
-- The expanded refinance flexibility ends in June 2010.


Fannie Mae exists to expand affordable housing and bring global capital to local communities in order to serve the U.S. housing market. Fannie Mae has a federal charter and operates in America's secondary mortgage market to enhance the liquidity of the mortgage market by providing funds to mortgage bankers and other lenders so that they may lend to home buyers. Our job is to help those who house America.

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