fha: Mortgage delinquency rate drifting down, but ... . - 12/26/12 11:43 AM
 
The national housing news are getting better, one step at a time. The direction is cautious to be frank but so long as it is going down the right path home loan and real estate industry participants can continue making strategic plans for the future. In fact, the entire economy needs a stable housing market to be able to emerge in full force from the funk it is desperately trying to escape from now.
 
TransUnion, one of the big three credit information boutiques around that also provides data for the FICO score, publishes a quarterly report on mortgage … (10 comments)

fha: Private transfer fees experience the ire of FHFA - 08/23/10 03:25 PM
It looks like the Federal Housing Finance Agency - or FHFA - is getting ready to introduce new regulations later this year that would prevent Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks - FHLBanks - from investing in mortgage loans tagged with these now notorious private transfer fees. This would then effectively bring major government-controlled home loan players in agreement about them, because FHA already is, according to HUD's regulations, banned from insuring mortgages on homes with private transfer fees. They are considered "legal restrictions on conveyance" in FHA talk.
These private transfer fees are brought to life … (11 comments)

fha: Fannie Mae's new strategic default rule could amount to very little - 07/30/10 09:05 AM
Fannie Mae recently took an assertive step, in its own mind at least, to stem the growing tendency of mortgage borrowers pulling off strategic defaults. In that homeowners who could afford their payments choose to walk away from the obligation anyway. The GSE went ahead and added another category to the new policy. Home loan recipients who fail to do a workout in good faith also fall under the spell of its new guidelines. What this all means is that property owners fitting these parameters would be ineligible for mortgages backed by Fannie Mae for seven long years from the recorded … (46 comments)

fha: Washington controls 46% of REOs today - real estate market maker for years to come - 06/30/10 07:41 AM
The housing industry is relying heavily on government-backed mortgage organizations like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA for supplying financing to home buyers, filling a gaping void left by the private home loan sector still applying remedial salve to its festering wounds. Without them the real estate arena would be uniquely anemic. And the government is slowly gaining even more control over housing in a different but quite influential capacity, whether it likes it or not.
As mortgage foreclosures keep steadily spilling onto the ravaged real estate market, GSEs - Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's official designation - and its federal … (10 comments)

fha: Curious strategic mortgage default legislation proposed - 06/13/10 03:33 PM
Washington has already come up with some unusual and at times confusing legislation during this enduring housing collapse to correct perceived deficiencies. HVCC – the Home Valuation Code of Conduct – addressing the alleged appraisal problems of the recent past is one. The new RESPA – Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act – is another that has led to many complaints and questions from the mortgage and real estate industries and puzzles the consumer as well. More of the same could be forthcoming.
House Republicans presented a surprise rider at the end of an FHA-related debate the other day that would … (14 comments)

fha: Private mortgage insurance firms changing direction - 04/28/10 10:22 AM
PMI, or private mortgage insurance, played a large role in yesterday's real estate boom, allowing buyers acquire property without putting a penny down. That was a tempting prospect indeed. 100% financing actually became quite popular those days as values kept galloping up on a steady pace that quickly generated equity no borrower in his right mind would dare turn down. The standard rule required a PMI if the down payment was less than 20%. These insurers were making money hand over fist, like just about all the other housing market participants did.
The real estate market's collapse changed everything in a … (6 comments)

fha: Private mortgage market showing signs of thawing - 04/25/10 11:11 AM
When the real estate market succumbed a few years ago into a deep recession it took the home loan sector with it. While many mortgage lenders failed spectacularly, others were kept from falling off the map by costly government bailouts or found a hopeful merger partner. This sudden inferno quickly chased the private - domestic and foreign - investor almost completely away from the secondary mortgage market where they had been buying securities to support the U.S. housing industry. Mortgage financing lately has been almost exclusively provided by government-affiliated agencies Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA. The behind the scenes mover … (4 comments)

fha: FHA takes risk management seriously - 04/11/10 03:25 AM
As FHA's market share has soared over the past few years, thanks to the vacuum left by conventional mortgage lenders whose fortunes have suffered terrible setbacks in the ongoing real estate calamity. But it hasn't escaped the anger of the sinking housing market either. It has bravely insured mortgage loans with only the minimum 3.5% down all along and as prices have continued spiraling south these loans have gone underwater sometimes in a few months - particularly vulnerable were many Las Vegas mortgage borrowers, as well as those in Miami and many parts of California -  and that often spells trouble. … (21 comments)

fha: Will mortgage rates head higher soon? A tough one - 03/18/10 10:23 AM
The real estate market has been meandering along with little purpose for a long time, trying urgently to locate firm ground anywhere from which to launch something resembling a rebound. That it is in a position like this at all it can thank the government for. Despite what the FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have done, the Fed has easily been the main dynamo supplying badly needed liquidity to the secondary mortgage market, where it has been actively buying MBS, or mortgage-backed securities. It quickly and prudently filled in the void left by the private investor when the housing sector dramatically … (14 comments)

fha: Mortgage lenders in HUD's crosshairs over high FHA insurance claims - 02/28/10 12:05 PM
FHA-insured home loans have carved a large chunk of the market during this prolonged housing meltdown. Conventional mortgage lenders have withdrawn in large numbers into the shadows to get TLC from the government just to be able to survive. Many have plain vanished from the scene, generally swallowed by a little stronger bank.
FHA has become the favorite of first-time home buyers for its more lenient underwriting guidelines and lower down payment requirements. Its programs, however, are open to all applicants and many refinances have been done through it. Since FHA started gobbling up market share a couple of years ago, … (6 comments)

fha: Housing recovery needs a stable mortgage market - 02/07/10 08:51 AM
Mortgage lending today is mostly in the hands of the government. Just about all new home loan financing or refinances are either purchased, securitized or insured by government agencies, the likes of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA leading the charge. Then there is the Federal Reserve that has filled the gaping void left by scared and loss-licking private investors in the secondary mortgage market. Without the Fed rolling up its sleeves and operating there that key segment would resemble a person from "Honey, I shrunk the kids." If so, the real estate market as it has been known until now … (6 comments)

fha: FHA mortgages in Las Vegas soon to cover wider range - 01/17/10 03:18 PM
Southern Nevada - with communities like Henderson, North Las Vegas, Mountains Edge, Rhodes Ranch, Summerlin and Anthem - real estate purchases have recently been financed increasingly with FHA products that offer mortgage applicants more considerate underwriting guidelines and lower down payments than the conventional ones. Without FHA it is hard to imagine what a darker place Las Vegas housing market would otherwise be in right now. And things are going to get even better soon.
HUD just announced an adjustment to the FHA home loan program. Presently, with some exceptions, FHA outlaws insuring a mortgage on a property owned by the … (6 comments)

fha: FHA seeks operational change - Las Vegas mortgage applicants could benefit - 12/01/09 08:43 AM
The current housing market turmoil has delivered the conventional home loan sector a hard uppercut on the chin, sending it reeling, which left a huge void in its wake. This gave FHA, rather dormant home loan insurer in recent years, an opening to regain some its past luster and it has steadily gained market share ever since. Its low down payment requirement and more lenient underwriting criteria have allowed many of today's mortgage borrowers achieve home ownership. Many well-meaning industry observers have also dubbed FHA the new subprime lender.
FHA has run into trouble of late, though, like who hasn't, due … (2 comments)

fha: Subprime home loans are back - Las Vegas mortgage borrowers go FHA - 10/29/09 11:23 AM
Mortgage loans that were labeled subprime just a few years ago were partly responsible for the notorious real estate bubble. When it burst and let all the air out, the subprime product quickly disappeared from the bloodied scene. Many housing observers warmed up their fingers over keyboards and wrote all these tearful obituaries, believing it would be gone for good. But guess what? It's now back.
This much-criticized mortgage segment has adopted a new backer, however. Subprime used to be pretty much exclusively conventional lenders' territory, until the recent thermonuclear event. With their exit a new player emerged to fill the … (10 comments)

fha: FHA market share increases, but cash reserves shrink - 09/06/09 09:07 AM
FHA is a mortgage loan insurer that has stepped into the rather sizable vacuum the recent housing finance market collapse created. Inside Mortgage Finance reports that its market share has jumped from a paltry 3% in 2006 to a strong 23% in the second quarter of 2009. It has become very popular especially with first-time home buyers because of its as low as 3.5% down payment requirement and more accommodating underwriting guidelines. Those parameters, actually, have to be well-liked by all borrowers.
As real estate prices have been steadily sinking in several areas, among them of course Las Vegas, FHA's increased … (13 comments)

fha: Las Vegas real estate among most affordable again - 08/27/09 06:12 AM
Southern Nevada - like Green Valley, Summerlin, Henderson, Spring Valley and Eldorado - was rapidly pricing itself out of the housing market a few years ago. The recent unforgettable boom pushed home values way past the average household income, forcing many to buy property with flexible mortgages that they really couldn't afford, or leaving others out of the market altogether.
That was the flavor of the Las Vegas real estate scene then. Things, fortunately, have changed drastically from those days.
BusinessWeek.com and a research shop Reis made some advanced calculations to rank the top 20 cheapest housing markets in the whole … (12 comments)

fha: New joint venture to buy distressed residential real estate - 08/20/09 07:04 AM
The co-founders of $1.5 billion fund have long resumes highlighted with mortgage, FHA, Wall Street and financial regulation experience in executive positions. Richard Stewart Jr., CEO of Heritage Capital Resources and Peter Monroe, CEO of National Real Estate Ventures, have carefully assessed the turbulent state of the national housing market and decided to pool their talents to buy and sell distressed real estate. In doing so the plan is to "help return foreclosed homes to productive use, prevent many foreclosures and also allow us to work with banks, servicers and federal agencies to reduce evictions."
Their forward-looking joint venture has also … (4 comments)

fha: FHA Energy Efficient Mortgage helps homeowners lower utility bills - 08/09/09 03:57 PM
Energy Efficient Mortgage, or EEM, by FHA has been around for quite some time but hasn't really caught on that well. Not yet anyway. The government is just now revving up a national campaign to highlight the importance of energy conservation in housing. It's putting a lot of resources into it. As a result the EEM is definitely going to get more media exposure and could even see some additional incentives added to its current program.
Here is how the FHA EEM basically works now. The borrower would purchase or refinance a principal residence, undergoing a regular FHA home loan approval … (2 comments)

fha: FHA mortgage coming on strong in Las Vegas - 07/14/09 09:11 AM
FHA barely had any market share in Southern Nevada a few years ago because the conventional product was generally offering home loans with better terms. And then comes the mother of all housing slumps that manhandles the conventional mortgage segment and gives FHA another chance to show what it can do. And it's rising to the occasion.
Much of the real estate activity in Las Vegas is now at the lower end of the market where prices are truly affordable, be it a single-family home or a condo or a townhouse. Values have been mercilessly rolled back to the levels of the … (2 comments)

fha: Southern Nevada existing home sales jump in June - 07/10/09 02:32 PM
Las Vegas housing market is gradually changing for the better. The key word is gradually. There have been subtle hints about it in the past few months and more are trickling in.   
As stated by GLVAR, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, a total of 3,785 single-family homes were closed in June, climbing a respectable 16.3% from May. What's even better is that this is a 70% improvement from the same month last year. REOs still dominate but it doesn't matter as long as the market remains active. Strict conventional mortgage guidelines kept these numbers from going even higher, … (2 comments)