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The Federal Housing Finance Agency will extend the Home Affordable Refinance Program, which helps underwater or near-underwater homeowners refinance their mortgages, through Sept. 30, 2017, the agency announced Thursday.

The agency also announced a new refinance offering for borrowers with high loan-to-value ratios that will be available in October 2017. Government-sponsored enterprises will continue offering HARP in the meantime to ensure HLTV borrowers have refinance options.

The new offering will be available to borrowers who: have not missed any mortgage payments in six months, have not missed more than one payment in 12 months, have a source of income, and will see a benefit from the refinance (such as a lower monthly payment).

The FHFA said the offering is a more targeted, streamlined program than HARP. Neither program requires a minimum credit score, maximum debt-to-income ratio or maximum LTV. However, the new program will have no eligibility cut-off dates, and borrowers will be able to use the program more than once.

"Providing a sustainable refinance opportunity for high LTV borrowers who have demonstrated responsibility by remaining current on their mortgage makes financial sense both for borrowers and for the Enterprises," said FHFA Director Mel Watt. "This new offering will give borrowers the opportunity to refinance when rates are low, making their mortgages more affordable and thus reducing credit risk exposure for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."

The FHFA said HARP has helped more than 3.4 million homeowners refinance their mortgages, and it noted that more than 300,000 homeowners are still eligible for the program. Borrowers with existing HARP loans will not be eligible for the new program unless they have refinanced out of HARP with one of the GSEs' traditional refinance products.