Just over a week ago, the Federal Housing Finance Agency raised the maximum conforming loan limit for GSE mortgages by $7,100 for 2017, citing an increase in home prices.
Moody’s Investors Service published a warning this week regarding mortgage programs that use bank statements and letters from accountants to verify borrowers’ income. The rating service said that type of underwriting – especially when relying on fewer than 24 months of statements – yields loans that are more risky than mortgages that have traditional income verification. Bank-statement mortgages have gained some prominence in the non-agency market this year as Lone Star Funds ...
Total FHA and VA originations increased during the first nine months of 2016 compared to the same period last year, although VA was more active, posting a double-digit production increase, according to an analysis of Ginnie Mae data. Lenders delivered $201.0 billion of FHA loans to Ginnie single-family mortgage pools over the last three quarters, up 4.8 percent from the previous year. Approximately 65.4 percent and 29.3 percent of FHA loans securitized were purchase loans and refinances, respectively. The remainder was loan modifications. VA originations totaled $143.2 billion over the same period, up 22.3 percent from last year. Refinances accounted for 51.9 percent of volume and purchase loans comprised 47.0 percent. The share of FHA loans in agency mortgage-backed securities for the nine-month period was 19.5 percent and 13.9 percent for VA. FHA loans accounted for ...