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Commentary > HaysWire
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Taking refi heart
Despite rising rates people continue to refinance and that's good news in less confident times.
October 6, 2004: 8:38 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Looking past the headline today saying that demand for mortgage applications was flat last week, we see that mortgage refinancings continued to climb.

True, they have not hit the astronomical levels of 2003, but they have climbed higher and that's potentially good news for the economy.

Mortgage refi's allow people to reduce monthly payments and/or take cash out to pay off high-rate credit card debt or pay for a kid's college tuition. In other words, they keep families afloat, or in the best of circumstances allow them to do a nice home remodel.

With oil prices going even further above 50 bucks a barrel, threatening to boost gas prices and keep home heating oil costs high, refi's are a welcome offset.

As we see the weekly numbers on "Consumer Comfort" from ABC/Money Magazine sink, it's clear there are some consumers out there may be looking for a financial life raft.  Top of page


Kathleen Hays anchors CNN Money Morning and The FlipSide, airing Monday to Friday on CNNfn. As part of CNN's Business News team, she also contributes to Lou Dobbs Tonight.




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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.