FHA this week announced a 6.8 percent increase in loan limits nationwide for 2018 with 26 counties seeing increases above the national rate. In high-cost areas, the loan-limit ceiling will rise to $679,650 from $636,150 in 2017, while the floor will increase to $294,515 from $275,665. In addition, the national mortgage limit for Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) or reverse mortgages will rise to $679,650 from $636,150. FHA regulations do not allow HECM loan limits to vary by metropolitan statistical area or county. Instead, the single limit applies to all mortgages regardless of where the property is located, the agency explained. In between the floor and the ceiling is a broad band of loan limits for single-family forward mortgage loans set at 115 percent of median house prices. The forward limits vary according to MSA and county. The changes in the loan limits are the result of ... [ Chart ]
FHA this week announced it will stop insuring new mortgages on properties encumbered with a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) lien as part of a larger effort to protect borrowers and the FHA mortgage insurance fund. “FHA can no longer tolerate putting taxpayers at risk by allowing [PACE] obligations to be placed ahead of the mortgage itself in the event of a default,” said Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson. Carson said PACE assessments are potentially dangerous for the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund and could adversely affect a borrower’s ability to repay or refinance their mortgage or sell their home. FHA also expressed concern about PACE obligations having seniority over pre-existing FHA loans that are already outstanding. The post-endorsement placement of PACE assessments on an FHA-insured mortgage creates a lack of transparency, making it difficult for ...
VA posted an 11.6 percent increase in originations in the third quarter, reversing a downward slide that began in early 2017. VA lenders ended the period with $45.5 billion in new originations, up from $40.8 billion in the previous quarter. The nine-month VA volume totaled $129.1 billion with purchase mortgages providing a strong boost. Streamlined refinancing, or Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loans, accounted for 16.8 percent of VA loans originated and securitized during the nine-month period. The top five VA lenders in sequential order – USAA, Veterans United Home Loans, Quicken Loans, Navy Federal Credit Union and Freedom Mortgage – ended the third quarter with a combined $11.05 billion in originations and a 24.7 percent share of the market. Top-ranked USAA reported a 17.0 percent drop in VA lending in the third quarter from the previous quarter. Over the nine-month period, it racked up ... [charts]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has provided guarantees to 10,366 rural mortgage loans under its Section 502 Single Family Housing Guarantee program in 2017. As of the end of October, USDA provided $1.5 billion in rural home loan guarantees, down from $1.6 billion (11,678 loans) at the same time last year. In addition, USDA guaranteed more than $55.1 million of loans made under the Section 502 Direct program, which offers mortgages for low- and very low-income homebuyers in rural areas. Borrowers with very low-income account for 36.2 percent of loans under the program. Furthermore, the USDA guaranteed 66 repair-and-rehabilitation loans totaling $385,836, up from this time last year. No grants were obligated in October. For its multifamily housing program, the USDA obligated 188 rural housing vouchers totaling $762,506 as of the end of October. No vouchers were obligated in the ...
Rural home purchase lending rose for the fifth straight year in 2016 although volume remains below pre-recession levels, according to new research by the Housing Assistance Council based on Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data. HAC, a nonprofit organization that supports and tracks affordable housing efforts in rural areas, estimated that 55 percent of the 1.05 million rural home loans originated last year were first-lien purchase mortgages. The increase was substantial compared to 2012 and 2013, when two-thirds of rural originations involved refinance, the group noted. The U.S. Department of Agriculture guaranteed 9 to 12 percent of all rural home purchase loans originated in each of the last three years, the study found. Of the 16.3 million HMDA submissions by covered institutions, an estimated 2.0 million involved funding for homes in rural or small-town communities, researchers found. While mortgage activity ...
Attorney Alan Kaplinsky said the new filing “may be an indicator of the enforcement philosophy of Mick Mulvaney… and how that philosophy may impact future CFPB enforcement activity.”
Acting Ginnie Mae President Michael Bright also issued a warning that expulsion from the program for “lenders who produce pools with inexplicably fast prepayment speeds” was a distinct possibility.
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