FHA Fund Drops Further, Experts Divided on Meaning
November 18, 2011
The FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund for single-family loans again fell short of minimum capital standards, spurring renewed warnings of a taxpayer bailout if losses continue to mount. According to FHAs annual report to Congress on its financial status and the condition of the MMI Fund, reserves dropped to 0.24 percent in 2011 from 0.50 percent last year. This means that the agency is holding only $2.6 billion of excess reserves, down from $4.7 billion the year before, against roughly $1.1 trillion of FHA-insured loans. The report also noted that unless housing prices stabilize and losses drop, the fund has a 50 percent chance of a taxpayer bailout. The negative effects in the reports base case scenario were caused by ...