After a town hall meeting on the Home Affordable Refinance Program in Newark, New Jersey on Wednesday, the housing market was left questioning if the program would be extended or possibly even expanded.
During the Goldman Sachs (GS) Housing Finance Conference Thursday, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt clarified, saying that he never intended to muddy the water yesterday.
This was the FHFA’s fifth event to reach homeowners who could save as much as $220 per month refinancing their home through HARP, with more than 20,000 New Jersey residents still eligible to take advantage of HARP.
Watt started the nationwide public campaign back in July 2014 to capture the remaining eligible homeowners who would benefit financially from HARP.
What was under debate after yesterday’s meeting was the program’s expiration date, which is set for December 2015.
Once the meeting ended, news report made people think that a HARP extension or expansion was in the works. And the industry was quick to ask Watt about it during the Q&A section of Watt’s speech at the conference.
Watt explained that what he was saying is that the FHFA doesn’t like to leave any option off the table, but that doesn’t mean that the agency is in any talks to pursue either an extension or expansion, just that anything is possible.
“We are not actively considering HARP, and we are not currently actively considering a time for HARP” – Watt @FHFA #GSconference
— Brena Swanson (@BrenaSwansonHW) March 5, 2015
Watt clarifies HARP reports. He just does not like to take options off the table @FHFA #GSconference
— Brena Swanson (@BrenaSwansonHW) March 5, 2015
