Thirty-three percent of mortgages refinanced through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were closed through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), the most since the program began in March 2009. For the first six months of this year, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac processed 422,969 loans through HARP, more than the total of 400,024 for all of 2011. According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), record-low mortgage rates, removal of the loan-to-value (LTV) ceiling for borrowers who refinance into FRMs (fixed rate mortgages), and reduced fees for some borrowers stimulated the increase in HARP volume. As HousingWire tells MHProNews, 1.4 million mortgages have been refinanced through HARP since it began.

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