FHA single-family endorsements fell 55.6 percent in the first four months of 2014, compared to the same period last year, but the impact was far from uniform across the country. A new analysis by Inside FHA Lending, an affiliated newsletter, shows that housing markets where FHA loan limits were reduced this year have seen a bigger drop in FHA business than elsewhere in the country. In counties with lower FHA loan limits, production in the first four months of 2014 was down 57.7 percent from a year ago, while production in markets where there was no change fell 51.3 percent. FHA lending declined...
While affluent borrowers prefer to obtain mortgage financing from their primary bank, some in this category are willing to shop, particularly when competing lenders offer lower interest rates or more attractive loan products.
“There’s lots of talk of companies being for sale right now,” said Paul Hindman, managing director of Management Advisors Executive Search, “but not too much talk of deals closing.”
Flagstar, a thrift that is also the largest remaining depository in the table funding sector, earned $25.5 million in the second quarter compared to a $78.9 million loss in 1Q.
One critic of the report on nonbank risk had this to say: “It’s just ridiculous what they [the IG] get away with. There’s risk in every business. Don’t they get it?”
Criticisms about servicing seem to be stubbornly resistant to much improvement, however, hovering in the 3,000 to 4,000 range for the last six quarters.
The audit is being conducted by HUD’s Office of Inspector General to assess the bank’s compliance with FHA requirements related to the origination of loans insured by the agency.
“The entire subject of ‘mini-corr’ and the CFPB’s interpretation is the result of a witch hunt perpetrated by one of the lawyers that moved from the Federal Reserve Board,” said one disgruntled broker.