Rented my house & moved in w/ parents. Refinancing implications?

[Johnson Yeoh]

I recently rented out my house and moved in with my parents for a year or two. Do I technically have no "primary residence" with respect to loans? I wanted to refinance, but the rates are much higher for rental / investment properties. I lived there for 11+ years until recently and intend to move back. In the meantime am I limited to the "investment property" rates?

I wanted to refinance from a 30 year fixed into a 15 year. It makes sense at the primary rates being quoted, but for investment properties the rates are higher than what I currently have. 

My loan to value ratio is about 16%. If I reduce that down even further (pay down a big chunk when refinancing) would that help with rates?

Thanks