Homeowners who survived the Great Recession with high debt-to-loan ratios completed 6,091 more refinances in May under the Home Affordable Refinance Program.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has now helped 3.4 million families refinance their mortgages since the current program began April 1, 2009, some owing more on their houses than they were worth. About 6% of HARP loans had a loan-tovalue ratio greater than 125%, and HARP refinances accounted for 4% of all U.S. refinances in May.

Just a little more than half of May's HARP refinances came from the 12 states with the highest rates of HARP participation: Florida (8.6%), Georgia (7.9%), Connecticut (7.5%), New Mexico (7.5%), Rhode Island (7.1%), Maryland (7.1%), Ohio (7%), Nevada (6.9%), Michigan (6.8%), Delaware (6.8%), Illinois (6.1%) and Arizona (5.9%).

From January through May, HARP refinances represented 9% or more of total refinances in Florida and Georgia, more than double the 4% of total refinances nationwide over the same period.

Total refinance volume increased in May as rates remained below the levels observed at the end of 2015. The average interest rate on a 30year fixed rate mortgage fell to 3.60% from 3.61% in April.