Endorsements fell in May at the two top FHA shops in the country even as the market’s total production of loans with FHA insurance increased both on a monthly and year-over-year basis, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of FHA data. Wells Fargo, the country’s largest FHA lender, saw its May volume fall 14.6 percent to $1.94 billion from April while second-ranked Quicken Loans saw production fall even farther by 22.5 percent to $1.16 billion over the same period. Year over year, Wells Fargo’s FHA volume fell 5.9 percent in May while for Quicken Loans, the story was different ... (1 chart)

HUD FY 2013 Budget. On June 29, the House approved the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s FY 2013 budget. Although a number of amendments was considered, the funding levels for HUD programs remained unchanged from those passed by the House Appropriations Committee. New commitments under the FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund in FY 2013 include $400 million for loan guarantees and $50 million for direct loans. The General and Special Risk Program gets $25 billion for guaranteed loans and $20 million for direct loans. A total of $500 billion for the Ginnie Mae securitization program would be available until ...

Roughly 27 percent of outstanding Ginnie Mae MBS pools are eligible for the FHA’s revised streamline refinancing program, which could translate to $36 billion in new annual Ginnie Mae issuance, according to a report from Barclays Research. Barclays analysts estimated that about $293.0 billion of Ginnie Mae’s $1 trillion-plus 30-year loan pools were originated before May 2009. About 79 percent of the collateral backing these pools are FHA loans, which suggests that as much as $232.0 billion could qualify...

The lure of discount pricing combined with the hassle of tough mortgage underwriting standards appears to be pushing more homebuyers away from mortgage financing and toward all-cash home purchases, the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey results suggest. According to the new HousingPulse data, the share of homebuyers relying on all-cash transactions climbed to a record high 35.2 percent in May. That was up from a 30.7 percent level a year ago and...

A new secondary market policy announced by Wells Fargo last week is sending ripples across the industry and could potentially cause the FHA Streamline Refinance program to falter in the coming weeks. Major FHA lenders have quietly adopted similar policies as FHA refinance volume, fueled by increased streamline refi business, more than doubled over the week. Wells Fargo raised eyebrows by announcing it will do FHA streamline refis only on loans in its own servicing portfolio and will not accept streamline refis from third-party originators. The top FHA producer in the first quarter of 2012 said focusing on ...

FHA lenders may expect new guidance on the use of credit overlays as the Department of Housing and Urban Development expressed concern over lenders imposing additional underwriting beyond what FHA already requires. Acting FHA Commissioner and Assistant Secretary for Housing Carol Galante said there is concern about FHA lenders raising credit score requirements much higher than the agency requires to shield themselves from future liability. She said many lenders are requiring credit scores of 700 or higher, way above the traditional FHA borrower score of 640-650 – a practice that is not prohibited but ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is looking for ways to expand the FHA’s home renovation program to accommodate real estate-owned properties even as the mortgage industry urged HUD to open the program to investors. Acting FHA Commissioner and Assistant Secretary for Housing Carol Galante said HUD is considering use of the 203(k) Rehabilitation Loan program to ease FHA’s huge inventory of foreclosed properties. HUD’s REO inventory has dropped from a peak of 68,997 foreclosed properties in March 2011 to 29,692 in February. As of May 27, the inventory was ...

Widespread objection by stakeholders has forced the Department of Housing and Urban Development to rescind a new lending policy regarding borrowers with disputed debt and unresolved collection issues and to consider clarifying the issue in future guidance. The policy, announced along with other FHA underwriting changes in February, was initially to take effect on April 1. However, industry concern about fewer borrowers qualifying for an FHA-insured loan caused HUD to extend the policy’s effective date to July 1 to reexamine and gather more information from stakeholders. HUD announced its decision to ...

Advocates for FHA condominium rule changes may have to wait a bit longer for a proposed rule currently in development, according to Acting FHA Commissioner Carol Galante. Galante said the Department of Housing and Urban Development is reviewing the current FHA condo rules for future revisions that would remove the roadblock to buyers, sellers and lenders. A proposed rule is in the works but it could take considerably more time to finish and finalize it, she said without providing a timetable. In the meantime, new guidance is on the way to ...

The real estate industry called on the Department of Veterans Affairs to offer an existing pilot program on property rehabilitation similar to the FHA’s 203(k) program in all markets, especially those with a high veteran population. In a letter, the National Association of Realtors asked that the Veterans Renovation Pilot Program be administered through the VA Loan Guaranty Program, allowing veterans to purchase distressed property for repair, alteration, renovation and improvement. The VA pilot resembles the FHA’s “fixer-upper” program for buyers interested in purchasing ...