FHFA Announces HARP Education Effort

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced a new program Monday that will seek to educate homeowners on potential refinancing options under the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). The program aims to inform underwater homeowners of expanded HARP eligibility requirements and encourage homeowners to discuss refinancing options with their lenders.

“To date, more than 2.8 million homeowners have refinanced through HARP,” said FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco. “With the launch of this campaign we look forward to reaching those homeowners who may not know about the program or understand the eligibility criteria to take advantage of today’s low interest rates by refinancing through HARP.”

In order to publicize the program, FHFA has recruited HGTV personality Mike Aubrey to help promote HARP. “Harp is an absolute no brainer for eligible homeowners . . .”

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Zillow: 12.2M Homeowners Underwater in Q2

By: Tory Barringer, DSNews.com

The national negative equity rate continued to drop in the second quarter as home values marched upward, according to figures released by Zillow.

Zillow’s most recent Negative Equity Report shows approximately 12.2 million homeowners owed more on their mortgage than their home is worth last quarter, down from 13 million in the first quarter and 15.3 million the same time last year.

Those 12.2 million underwater homeowners represent approximately 23.8 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage, Zillow said. The negative equity rate among all homeowners—including those without a mortgage—was 16.7 percent at the end of the quarter. (Roughly one-third of homes are owned without a mortgage.)

For the second quarter of 2014, Zillow predicts the negative equity rate will fall to 20.9 percent, lifting an additional 1.9 million homeowners into positive equity.

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