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Lower rates, more approvals, and for the first time this year, borrowers with credit scores below 700 saved $100+/month refinancing their car loans.
● The current average auto refinance interest rate has dropped from 6.51% to 5.67%.
● The average interest rate across in June was 6.63% (-0.03% from May).
● The average monthly savings after refinancing an auto loan reached a new high last month, $99.86.
● June 2021 had the highest approval rate on record: 38% of all applicants were approved for auto loan refinancing.
The monthly Auto Refinance Rate Report is an analysis of anonymized completed auto refinance applications and funded (closed) loans in our network of more than 150 lenders nationwide.
This means as you’re reviewing the auto refinance data below, you’re looking at real rates and real savings based on real people who have applied for auto loan refinancing — and not the numbers often seen in auto refinance ads.
Here’s the Auto Refinance Rate Report for July 2021.
Current average interest rate
📝 The current average auto refinance interest rate is 5.67%. This is an average across all loan terms (36 to 72 months) and all credit profiles for loans approved in the RateGenius network over the last 30 days.
Read more: Today’s Current Auto Refinance Rates
The current auto refinance interest rate has fallen nearly one whole percentage point since June’s Auto Refinance Rate Report, from 6.51% to 5.67%.
Rates across all credit tiers have continued to remain competitive over the last 30 days. While borrowers with higher credit scores (>700) aren’t seeing much change, those with scores below 700 are getting approved for lower rates than the previous 30-day period.
If your score falls within the Poor (subprime <640) range, current rates are below 10% for most loan terms. Interest rates were around 11% last month. Similarly, applicants with Fair (640-699) credit have been getting approved for rates ranging from 5.77% to 6.21% in the last 30 days. In the previous 30-day period, the lowest recorded rate was 6.43% for 36 months.
📝 The average overall auto refinance interest rate in June was 6.63% across all customers approved for refinancing. Among borrowers who completed the auto refinance process, the average auto refinance savings was $99.86 per month, and the average auto loan balance refinanced was $23,950.
Just when we thought interest rates were heading upward… what a nice surprise. Interest rates dropped for all credit tiers. The average interest rate across all approved auto refinance loans was 6.63%, 0.04% lower than May’s average.
June was also a record month for refinance loan savings in 2021. Borrowers who refinanced with one of our lenders saved $100 per month on their auto loan payments. Those with scores between 640 and 699 saved the most after refinancing, $104.50 per month.
Last month we published a report on how used vehicle values are lowering loan-to-value ratios, thus helping auto refinance applications.
We looked at June data and found that the impact of used car values on auto refinance approvals was significant.
Loan-to-value ratios, because of skyrocketing used car values, descended into an all-time low, 97% across all applicants in June. This means that the average person applying for car loan refinancing had positive equity in their vehicle; their vehicle is worth more than the balance on the loan. This is the first time we’ve seen this.
Perhaps not-so-surprisingly, the approval rate (the percentage of applicants who were approved for an auto refinance loan with one of our lenders) reached 38%, also the highest on record.
📰 Read our LTV report: How Used Car Values Are Helping Refinance Applications
With used car values as they are, it’s a great time to sell your car — if you don’t need it — but it’s an even better time to refinance the loan on it. High vehicle values may make it easier to get approved for an auto refinance loan and may even get you a lower interest rate too.
Check your credit score for free, and compare your interest rate to today’s rates. You may find that it’s indeed time to get a better car loan.
RateGenius analyzed data on customer applications for auto loan refinancing made between January 1, 2020 and July 5, 2021. This dataset included thousands of anonymized completed auto loan refinance applications. We examined annual savings, changes in interest rates, auto loan debt, and application volume, broken down by credit tier and/or loan term. Savings and interest rate averages are based on approved loans across all loan terms, 36 to 72 months.
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