According to information from mortgage technology and data provider Black Knight, the population of high-quality refinance candidates has fallen to 7.1 million, down from 11 million at year-end 2021 and from as high as almost 20 million in early 2020.

There haven’t been so few refinance candidates since November 2019, when rates were about 3.75%, Black Knight says. According to the company, “Black Knight defines refinance candidates as 30-year mortgage holders with a maximum 80% loan-to-value ratio and credit scores of 720 or higher, who could shave at least 0.75% off their current first lien rate by refinancing.”