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Amid rate drops in the fall, mortgage refinance activity in Massachusetts increased.

According to data from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, mortgage lenders closed 18,916 refis in Massachusetts in the same time frame. This is an increase of 20.01 percent, up from 15,762 in 2023.

A recent report from mortgage data firm ICE showed that more than 300,000 mortgage refinances closed nation-wide in September and October.

“Homeowners pounced on their incentive to refinance as rates fell through August and September,” Andy Walden, ICE vice president of research and analysis, said in a statement. “More than 300K mortgage holders closed on refinance transactions in September and October, the most we’ve seen in two-and-a-half years. What’s more, almost half of that activity involved the homeowner refinancing into a better rate, with October marking the first time in three years that there were more rate/term than cash-out refinances in a given month.”

More than two thirds of all rate/term refinances dropped their rate by more than a full percentage point, while nearly a third were able to improve their rate by 1.5 percentage points or more according to ICE. the company’s data also showed that lenders were ready to meet demand, with average closing times among all loan types hitting their lowest October levels in the five years ICE has been tracking the metric.

According to ICE McDash +NextLoan data, which tracks loans before and after a refinance or other prepayment, this is translating into higher retention rates as well, with servicers retaining more than a third of customers refinancing to improve their rate or term, the best in two and a half years.

Households that had recently bought a home were also ready to take advantage of rate cuts. The average rate/term refinancer had been in their prior mortgage for just 15 months, the shortest average length of time in 20 years according to ICE.