FHA Mortgages are a staple here in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago and yesterday Jeff Belonger did a great post on how they plan on increasing the mortgage insurance premium for future buyers. It's still in the planning stages but I think that as a Realtors© we should be opposed to any increases for the following 2 reasons:
Homeownership rates as a whole are down and the FHA delinquencies are also down according to the Wall Street Journal. So what's the need?
Why make the qualifications so restrictive and add fees that are also restrictive making less buyers able to purchase a home in the future?
What we need is less government interference!
Study: Homeownership Rate Declines
"Homeownership rates are down 2 percentage points from their 2006 peak, but could fall another 5 percentage points in the next couple of years, according to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York."
"The study subtracts the number of home owners who are underwater from the official homeownership rate calculated quarterly by the U.S. Census Bureau."
"Officially, homeownership was 67.2 percent at the end of 2009, but the report says that effectively the rate is about 62 percent if those home owners likely to lose their homes are subtracted from the total."
"The study subtracts the number of home owners who are underwater from the official homeownership rate calculated quarterly by the U.S. Census Bureau."
"Officially, homeownership was 67.2 percent at the end of 2009, but the report says that effectively the rate is about 62 percent if those home owners likely to lose their homes are subtracted from the total."
FHA Delinquencies Decline for Third Month
"For the third consecutive month, the number of delinquent home mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration has declined."
"The delinquency rate is still high – 8.5 percent in April – but that is down from 9.4 percent in January."
The FHA was unwilling to applaud this as good news. "We're not declaring victory by any stretch," says David Stevens, the FHA's commissioner. "There's plenty of room for caution."
"But outside analysts were more positive. "It's a very important trend to the extent that we're not continuing to get worse," says Thomas Lawler, an independent housing economist in Leesburg, Va."
"The delinquency rate is still high – 8.5 percent in April – but that is down from 9.4 percent in January."
The FHA was unwilling to applaud this as good news. "We're not declaring victory by any stretch," says David Stevens, the FHA's commissioner. "There's plenty of room for caution."
"But outside analysts were more positive. "It's a very important trend to the extent that we're not continuing to get worse," says Thomas Lawler, an independent housing economist in Leesburg, Va."
Source: Realtor News, The Wall Street Journal, Nick Timiraos (06/07/2010)
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