FHA

The number of product offerings stayed at a level last seen in 2014 as slight gains in government and jumbo loans were offset by fewer conventional mortgages coming on the market.

The reduction currently under consideration by the Biden Administration would lead to even faster home price appreciation, especially in areas with moderate FHA presence, American Enterprise Institute’s Housing Director of Research Tobias Peter says.

The waivers to standard procedure will remain in place until December 2021.

Though the pandemic recession has driven up the delinquency rate on Federal Housing Administration loans, the president's appointees are widely expected to reduce mortgage insurance premiums by at least 25 basis points to make home loans less expensive.

Marcia Fudge told senators that her first priority as secretary would be to assist renters and homeowners struggling financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Investor concerns about a 25 basis point reduction taking business from private insurers might be overblown, but a 50 bp cut could affect an additional 10%-15% of the low down payment market, KBW said.

The move is in line with expectations that the Federal Housing Administration would extend more consumer relief amid the transition in Washington to Democratic leadership.

What if mortgage lenders could earn borrowers’ confidence and affection even earlier, so that they would turn to them repeatedly for other loans, including that initial mortgage, CampusDoor CEO Steve Winnie asks.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development bulletin waives “non-citizens” language in the FHA’s handbook, which one Trump administration official had claimed made DACA recipients ineligible for FHA loans.

The complaint unsealed Monday alleges three individuals and several companies they owned or controlled engaged in False Claims Act violations involving short sales of properties that had Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgages.

There are people creating a lot of unrealistic scenarios about market risk.

Mortgage application activity decreased 1.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis last week, but refinance volume picked up as interest rates reached a new survey low, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Plus: per-loan profits break a record and FHFA extends pandemic-related measures.

About 23% of borrowers under 30 got such a loan in October.

The head of the Federal Housing Administration said Congress should consider whether to continue allowing the loan floor and ceiling to remain tied to changes in the conforming mortgage limit.

The extension of the FHA’s willingness to conditionally endorse loans with suspended payments came amid a renewed push by public and private entities to spread awareness of the CARES Act option.

Mortgage applications increased 3.9% from one week earlier as another week of record low rates drew more borrowers into the market, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Mortgage applications slipped 0.3% from one week earlier, as refinance volume, particularly for Federal Housing Administration and Veterans Affairs loans, shrank significantly, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Rates could be 50 basis points steeper than the MBA’s current projections, which anticipate the 30-year mortgage will average 3.3% next year, up from nearly 3% this year.

The Federal Housing Administration said in its annual actuarial report that the capital reserve ratio on its mutual mortgage insurance fund increased to 6.10% in fiscal year 2020, up from 4.84% a year earlier.