Lenders originated $4.93 billion of rural housing loans with a U.S. Department of Agriculture guarantee during the fourth quarter of last year, 33.2 percent more than volume reported during the same period the year prior, according to the Housing Assistance Council’s report on USDA Rural Housing program obligations. USDA provided guarantees under the Section 502 Guaranteed Rural Housing Loan program to 34,412 rural housing loans in the fourth quarter, up from 26,889 loans ($3.7 billion) at the end of 2015. The program is the largest of the USDA’s single-family housing programs. For the Section 502 Direct Guarantee program, guarantees exceeded $196.6 million (1,492 loans), up from $174.7 million (1,334 loans) at the end of 2015. Very low-income (VLI) loan obligations as a percentage of taxpayer funds allocated to the USDA direct loan guarantee program were 38.9 percent, exceeding the ...
The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s inspector general is warning FHA appraisers to be careful with their state certification numbers lest they fall victim to identity thieves. The HUD IG said it has uncovered a series of appraiser identity thefts that resulted from the unauthorized use of a state-issued certification number of an FHA roster appraiser. The FHA roster appraiser was unaware of the theft until its discovery, usually by accident, the IG said. Such incidents occur when an FHA appraiser provides his or her personal identification number (PIN) for the desktop appraisal software to a colleague or supervisor. Reasons for providing the PIN varied, i.e., the PIN was needed to keep the process moving, the lender requested a fast turnaround, or for contingency, in case the roster appraiser was away or unavailable. Such actions raise the risks for theft and misuse because the appraiser can never be sure the ...
IRS to Require More Information About Taxpayers’ Home Mortgage. Beginning tax year 2017, the Internal Revenue Service will require taxpayers to disclose additional information about their home mortgages. Currently, the IRS only requires disclosure of the loan’s principal balance at the beginning of the year, origination date and address of property securing the loan. Under the revised rule, taxpayers must report on the 2017 Form 1098 information such as mortgage insurance premium, confirmation that the address of the property is the same as the borrower’s address, description of the property in case the address is unreported, and the number of mortgaged properties owned by the taxpayer. Specifically, the information will help the IRS determine whether deducted mortgage interest is within the $1 million limit on home acquisition debt and $100,000 of home-equity debt, and whether the ...
But the numbers need to be put into perspective: Agency MBS production in the first two months of 2017 was up 36.3 percent from the same period last year…
Purchase-mortgage originations in 2016 hit their highest level since before the housing market crash, including a solid uptick in first-time buyer activity, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. Revised estimates show a total of $1.021 trillion of home-purchase mortgages were originated in 2016, a 10.5 percent increase from the previous year. It marked the biggest volume of purchase-money lending since 2006 even though the purchase share of new originations declined. That’s...[Includes five data tables]
As policymakers work toward housing finance reform, industry participants are forming plans to ensure that servicing issues are addressed. The Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center recently launched the Mortgage Servicing Collaborative, which will provide data on servicing issues and analyze possible solutions. “We are...
Although sales of existing and newly constructed homes were both up in January 2017, a slump in the number of contracts signed for existing homes may be a harbinger of a rough spring market. A low supply of homes on the market, especially in the Midwest and West, caused a lull in pending home sales at the beginning of the year, according to a National Association of Realtor index based on contract signings. The Pending Home Sales Index showed that the number of homes with a contract in January was the lowest it’s been since January 2016. Existing home sale gains (up 3.3 percent in January) showed...
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