FHA lenders now face more stringent default monitoring and reporting requirements as federal housing regulators try to keep close tabs on loan performance to reduce losses to the FHA insurance fund. New guidance issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development requires FHA lenders to use new status codes in their monthly reporting of delinquent single-family mortgages, special forbearances and trial payment plans. At the same time, HUD announced a new reporting requirement for FHA loan modifications in which the servicer receives no incentives. The requirement to use the new codes and to ...
FHA jumbo loan originations increased in the first quarter of 2013 as well as from the same period last year pending hikes in the mortgage insurance premium and the required downpayment on loans above $625,500, according to Inside FHA Lendings analysis of FHA data. FHA jumbo lenders produced an estimated $5.44 billion in loans over $417,000 during the first three months of the year, up 6.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012 and 14.0 percent higher compared to the volume from a year ago. Consumers continued to use the FHA jumbo product despite FHAs decision to raise the annual mortgage insurance premiums on ... [2 charts]
FHA loans saw an improvement in delinquencies even as the mortgage industry reported an increase in the overall delinquency rate for single-family mortgages at the end of the first quarter of 2013, according to the Mortgage Bankers Associations latest national delinquency survey. Among loan types, the FHA saw the largest improvement on a seasonally adjusted basis as its delinquency rate dropped to 10.97 percent in the first quarter, down 20 basis points from the previous quarter. This was good news for an agency that has been battling to reduce losses and stabilize its Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. However, the refreshing change was ...
After some rough sailing, the FHA could use a bit of good news. In a recent audit, the Department of Housing and Urban Developments Office of the Inspector General found that funds held by lenders have adequately reduced FHAs payments of single-family mortgage insurance claims. Such funds include buydown funds remaining in escrow, unapplied assistance payments, rental income, escrow funds and others. The audit focused on the FHAs Single Family Claims Branch and was performed in response to concerns that HUD may not have the ...
The Department of Housing and Urban Developments Office of the Inspector General has announced a second round of mortgage note sales for this year under the expanded Distressed Asset Stabilization Program. Separate sales of approximately 20,000 severely delinquent loans have been scheduled for June 26 and July 10 as part of HUDs effort to reduce its bulging inventory of foreclosed residential properties and to target relief to areas hit the hardest by foreclosures. HUD estimates the total unpaid balance of the loans in this sale at ...
Regulation by Mortgagee Letter. The Department of Housing and Urban Development this week urged House lawmakers to grant it statutory authority to make temporary changes to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program through mortgagee letters while working to formalize the change through rulemaking. In a hearing before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance this week, Charles Coulter, HUD deputy assistant secretary for single-family housing, sought specific authority to limit the amount that may be drawn from ...
All three pistons in the mortgage origination engine slowed down during the first quarter of 2013, but retail production came closest to keeping the pace in a declining market, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. Lenders produced an estimated $310.0 billion in originations through retail offices, bank branches, call centers and online activities during the first three months of 2013. That was down 0.9 percent from the previous quarter, but because overall production slipped 4.8 percent, the retail share of the market surged to a record 62.0 percent. The wholesale channel both correspondent and broker accounted...[Includes four data charts]
Mortgage delinquency rates declined during the first quarter of 2013, according to an index compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance based on 19 lenders that service a total of $6.04 trillion in home mortgages. The overall delinquency rate index fell from 9.47 percent at the end of 2012 to 8.70 percent at the end of the first quarter. That was the lowest level since the third quarter of 2008. There were...[Includes one data chart]
Although loan broker employment continues to rise, the market share for table funding declined in the first quarter, according to exclusive survey figures from Inside Mortgage Finance.