A Bipartisan Opportunity to Help Homeowners (Excerpt)
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A bill in the U.S. Senate would more than double the number of homeowners who could refinance under a federal mortgage program and more than double their potential savings, a Columbia University Business School study estimates. Senate bill 3085, introduced by Senators Robert Menendez and Barbara Boxer, would expand and streamline refinancing opportunities under the existing Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). The study estimates this new legislation would increase the total number of homeowners who refinance under HARP to up to 13 million and produce total potential savings of $35 billion a year.
In a separate analysis, the researchers also tallied the estimated number of mortgage holders in each state who could potentially be eligible for a refinancing under HARP and how much they could save in lower interest payments if the legislation were passed:
Estimated Savings from Streamlined Refinancing*
Estimates by Alan Boyce, R. Glenn Hubbard, Christopher Mayer, and James Witkin at The Paul Milstein School of Real Estate at Columbia Business School. See http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/realestate/research/housingcrisis.
|
State |
Annual Interest Savings |
Number of |
Average Savings |
|
Alabama |
$438.4 |
162,436 |
$2,699 |
|
Alaska |
$73.6 |
18,142 |
$4,054 |
|
Arizona |
$937.2 |
318,378 |
$2,944 |
|
Arkansas |
$187.5 |
78,949 |
$2,375 |
|
California |
$5,669.8 |
1,371,678 |
$4,133 |
|
Colorado |
$851.6 |
253,639 |
$3,358 |
|
Connecticut |
$532.6 |
142,018 |
$3,750 |
|
Delaware |
$175.5 |
49,779 |
$3,525 |
|
District of Columbia |
$120.9 |
27,143 |
$4,267 |
|
Florida |
$2,975.1 |
980,316 |
$3,035 |
|
Georgia |
$1,281.5 |
431,411 |
$2,971 |
|
Hawaii |
$220.5 |
43,846 |
$5,029 |
|
Idaho |
$218.8 |
77,667 |
$2,818 |
|
Illinois |
$1,776.6 |
532,371 |
$3,337 |
|
Indiana |
$582.2 |
253,294 |
$2,299 |
|
Iowa |
$236.0 |
100,805 |
$2,341 |
|
Kansas |
$243.4 |
95,822 |
$2,540 |
|
Kentucky |
$324.3 |
131,798 |
$2,461 |
|
Louisiana |
$368.8 |
134,317 |
$2,746 |
|
Maine |
$160.5 |
52,027 |
$3,085 |
|
Maryland |
$1,119.9 |
284,495 |
$3,937 |
|
Massachusetts |
$1,000.4 |
238,133 |
$4,201 |
|
Michigan |
$1,166.0 |
458,550 |
$2,543 |
|
Minnesota |
$884.2 |
277,725 |
$3,184 |
|
Mississippi |
$142.2 |
54,096 |
$2,628 |
|
Missouri |
$630.2 |
247,220 |
$2,549 |
|
Montana |
$114.6 |
38,242 |
$2,997 |
|
Nebraska |
$145.0 |
61,411 |
$2,361 |
|
Nevada |
$378.1 |
119,284 |
$3,170 |
|
New Hampshire |
$231.2 |
67,227 |
$3,439 |
|
New Jersey |
$1,667.3 |
402,431 |
$4,143 |
|
New Mexico |
$240.8 |
83,128 |
$2,897 |
|
New York |
$2,595.5 |
638,756 |
$4,063 |
|
North Carolina |
$1,070.1 |
368,962 |
$2,900 |
|
North Dakota |
$36.5 |
15,079 |
$2,420 |
|
Ohio |
$1,027.5 |
427,650 |
$2,403 |
|
Oklahoma |
$286.8 |
121,616 |
$2,358 |
|
Oregon |
$668.7 |
201,625 |
$3,317 |
|
Pennsylvania |
$1,365.1 |
469,712 |
$2,906 |
|
Rhode Island |
$141.7 |
41,108 |
$3,447 |
|
South Carolina |
$525.6 |
188,329 |
$2,791 |
|
South Dakota |
$59.2 |
23,511 |
$2,520 |
|
Tennessee |
$570.0 |
204,354 |
$2,789 |
|
Texas |
$2,517.8 |
874,868 |
$2,878 |
|
Utah |
$367.7 |
108,814 |
$3,379 |
|
Vermont |
$80.8 |
26,920 |
$3,003 |
|
Virginia |
$1,265.9 |
346,507 |
$3,653 |
|
Washington |
$1,170.8 |
321,151 |
$3,646 |
|
West Virginia |
$95.0 |
39,284 |
$2,419 |
|
Wisconsin |
$504.5 |
171,875 |
$2,935 |
|
Wyoming |
$58.4 |
18,923 |
$3,084 |
* The state totals differ from the 13 million people and $35 billion savings the researchers calculated nationally because the national estimates were based on more refined assumptions.