The Senate’s FHA Modernization Bill, S 2338 flew through with a 93 to 1 vote yesterday. The House previously passed its own slightly different FHA reform bill in September. The measure will now go to a committee to work out compromises between the two competing version before the final draft is forwarded to the Oval Office for signature.

Two of the key issues are:

1. Raises the maximum FHA loan amount to $417,000, putting it in parity with conventional loan limits.
2. Lowers the required down payment to 1.5% from 3% (the House version eliminates the down payment requirement altogether)