Most mortgage lenders reported a significant uptick in purchase-mortgage originations during the third quarter of 2015, though there is little sign that originators are lowering credit standards to stimulate more business. According to revised estimates by Inside Mortgage Finance, purchase-mortgage originations climbed 10.7 percent from the second to the third quarter of this year, hitting $280 billion. At that level, the purchase market was the strongest it has been since the third quarter of 2007. At the same time, credit standards – at least in the agency market – have eased...[Includes two data tables]

Combining the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program and the traditional forward mortgage program in assessing the soundness of the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund could produce inaccurate results and ill-advised policy changes, warned the Urban Institute. Analysts at the institute said the FHA’s basis for assessing the MMI Fund’s solvency creates a distorted picture of the value of the fund and that the agency should separately assess its forward and reverse mortgage businesses to get an accurate picture of their performance and impact on the fund. The FY 2015 actuarial report drew...

The first nine months of 2015 have seen a tremendous increase in FHA single-family originations as borrowers took advantage of a 50 basis-point premium reduction implemented earlier this year, according to Inside FHA/VA Lending’s analysis of agency data. Total FHA loan production during the first nine months of 2015 was up a whopping 81.3 percent increase. Data also showed a 13.1 percent increase in the third quarter from the prior quarter. It is hard to imagine that back in February this year, we reported a dismal ending for 2014, where overlays and high-loan costs caused an 8.1 percent decline in FHA endorsements in the fourth quarter and a 36.6 percent drop from 2013. In 2015, FHA fixed-rate originations increased 12.7 percent from the second to the third quarter, and rose 86.0 percent on a year-to-date basis. In 2014, conversion ... [ 2 charts ].

Despite FHA’s denial of further mortgage insurance premium reductions any time soon, stakeholders are holding out hope for another cut in the near future. Those supporting the idea of another pricing adjustment say it could open the door wider for more borrowers to use the FHA single-family program and generate the volume needed to offset any potential revenue loss that may result from the reduction. But Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro and his top officials have denied any plans of reducing MIPs. Castro has called such talk “premature,” despite a positive FY 2015 actuarial evaluation of the FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, which some claim could be used to justify another premium reduction. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing and Interim FHA Chief Ed Golding, in a press briefing, said the focus is elsewhere and not on ...

The FHA has issued temporary guidance for approving condominium projects for agency financing – a good first step, according to industry groups. Stakeholders have been waiting for a broader rewrite of the condominium rules for years, and they see the interim guidance as limited but positive. Announced on Nov. 13, the guidance is in place for a year while the FHA works on a more comprehensive rule that addresses all condominium lenders’ concerns. The temporary guidelines modify the requirements for condominium project recertification. It can cost up to $3,000 and, in some cases, take more than a year, to complete a condominium recertification project. The certification is good for only two years. Condo projects run afoul of FHA rules when the certification lapses, rendering the ...

Menendez Introduces HAWK Amendment in T-HUD Appropriations Bill. The National Association of Realtors recently sent a thank-you note to Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, for introducing an amendment to H.R. 2577, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2016, to restore HUD’s authority to offer the Homeowners Armed with Knowledge (HAWK) program. Lawmakers who were concerned about the financial condition of the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund denied funding for the HAWK program last year in a continuing spending bill, effectively stalling the program for a year. The HAWK program is a key component of the FHA’s Blueprint for Access, which was designed to open up the credit box for underserved borrowers. Specifically, program participants will benefit from reductions in FHA premiums once they complete ...

The FHA has issued temporary guidelines to ease the condominium approval process and increase the number of condo projects eligible for FHA financing. The guidelines take effect immediately and will be in place for one year to give FHA enough time to write and implement a more comprehensive rule. With the issuance of the guidelines, FHA anticipates an increase in the pool of FHA-eligible condo projects, which in turn will provide more affordable housing options for first-time and low- to moderate-income borrowers. The interim guidelines modify three key areas where lender complaints have been common. First, the guidelines revise requirements for recertification of condo projects. FHA-approved condo projects require recertification after two years to ensure that the project is still in ...

Mortgage lenders are more willing to expand the credit box for FHA borrowers, but they appear to be getting more cautious about FHA lending, according to a new Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities data. Over two thirds of FHA loans securitized in the first nine months of 2015 had credit scores below 700, and 6.2 percent of them had scores of 620 or lower. By comparison, 47.0 percent of VA loans were below 700 and just 4.4 percent were in the lowest category. But FHA lenders became more cautious as the year wore on. In the first quarter, 6.8 percent of FHA loans had scores of 620 or lower. That fell to just 6.0 percent in the third quarter. The FHA purchase-mortgage sector skews even further away from the riskiest borrowers and toward safer ground. The share of FHA purchase loans with scores of 620 or lower fell from 5.8 percent in the first ... [ 2 charts ]

Facing the possibility of a potential False Claims Act lawsuit, PHH Corp. is reconsidering its participation in the FHA mortgage insurance program. Though PHH’s FHA segment represents only 3 percent of its mortgage volume over the past 12 months, the company will proceed cautiously as it evaluates the risk-adjusted return of FHA products and programs, said Glenn Messina, PHH president and chief executive.Ranked 50th among FHA lenders as of June 30, 2015, PHH expects more regulatory challenges in 2016 as well as rising compliance costs, said Messina during a third-quarter earnings call. In its latest quarterly filing, PHH disclosed receiving a subpoena from the inspector general of the Department of Housing and Urban Development for documents related to, among other things, FHA loan origination and underwriting practices. Like several other FHA lenders, PHH is ...

The Federal Home Loan Bank System is seeking to boost its share of government-backed lending and the Ginnie Mae market with a new servicing-release option for FHA, VA and rural housing mortgages that are sold into the Mortgage Partnership Finance program. The new feature adds to an existing servicing-retained execution in the MPF Government Mortgage-Backed Securities program. The current servicing-retained component requires participating lenders to service loans they originate and sell into the MPF conduit. The servicing-release option from Nationstar Mortgage, a top-10 mortgage servicer based in Dallas, will provide lenders with greater pricing flexibility so they can become more competitive in the communities they serve, said Matt Feldman, president of the Chicago FHLB. Only FHLBank members that are participants in MPF can use the government MBS program. In order to ...