Originations of Federal Housing Administration single-family loans are catching up with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, according to the chief executive of a cooperative of 125 regional mortgage banking firms. "FHA is the fastest-growing product," said Scott Stern, CEO of St. Louis-based Lenders One. In January 2007, FHA lending made up only 1% of Lenders One loan production, and 60% was Fannie/Freddie conventional loans. In the second quarter of 2008, FHA product constituted 41.5% of originations, while conventional originations totaled 53.1%, Mr. Stern told MortgageWire. The co-op members originated $7.6 billion in mortgage loans in the first quarter. The Lenders One CEO noted that the FHA is getting a lot of good publicity and that the federal mortgage insurance program has not raised its fees or tightened its underwriting standards, as Fannie and Freddie and the private mortgage insurance companies have. But Mr. Stern said investors will no longer buy FHA loans with credit scores below 580. "Some won't do it below 600 or 620," he added. The FHA can be found online at http://www.fha.gov.
