Tag Archives: HUD

The Census and HUD announced jointly Wednesday that housing starts in January ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 880,000, a 16 percent decline from December. The drop in starts came during a month in which homebuilder confidence in the single-family market (as measured by the National Association of Home Builders) measured at an index value of 57, reflecting general optimism.

Centennial Mortgage, Inc. (CMI), an Indiana-based mortgage bank providing funding through HUD- and U.S. Department of Agriculture-insured loan programs, added one of HUD's own to its staff. Reneé Greenman, formerly the agency's Seattle Multifamily Hub Director, joined the company as managing director.

New home sales softened for the second straight month in December, falling well short of expectations as harsh weather and declining affordability turned potential buyers off.

During a town hall meeting hosted by Zillow and the National Urban League Wednesday, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said progress is being made in regards to inequality in the housing market, but discrimination and inequality still persist. While these deeper issues must be addressed more broadly, Donovan said the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has been "a life line" for minority home buyers, helping about half of African American and Latino buyers gain access to credit.

Construction spending in November reached an estimated seasonally adjusted rate of $934.4 billion, up from $925.1 billion in October and $882.7 billion in November 2012, according to the Census Bureau. Private residential construction spending rose 1.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted $345.5 billion in November. Year-over-year private residential construction spending increased 16.6 percent. Single-family construction spending rose 1.8 percent over the month, while multifamily construction spending rose 0.9 percent.

November saw new housing starts jump to a nearly six-year high, the Census Bureau and HUD revealed Wednesday in a joint release. According to initial estimates, starts ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.09 million, a 22.7 percent spike from October and the highest rate since February 2008. Single-family housing starts contributed 727,000 (adjusted annual rate) to November's total, while the rate for multifamily buildings was about 354,000.

More than a year after reporting a shortfall of $16.3 billion in the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) Fund, HUD announced significant improvements in the agency's financial situation--though the fund remains in the red. An actuarial report released Friday shows FHA's insurance fund for single-family home loans has regained $15 billion dollars in value over the last year, bringing it to -$1.3 billion dollars and a capital ratio of -0.11 percent.

HUD has issued a newly revised definition of a qualified mortgage (QM) that will affect all Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans moving forward. The new rules go into effect on January 10, 2014, and will apply to mortgages that are insured, guaranteed, or administered by HUD. The agency defined two categories of QM, with the main difference being the relation between a loan's annual percentage rate and its average prime offer rate.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) published on Wednesday new guidelines for lenders to use when manually underwriting loan applications for borrowers applying for FHA-insured mortgages. Chief among the changes is a set of "compensating factors" for lenders to use when considering borrowers whose debt-to-income percentages exceed established ratios (31 percent for housing costs and 43 percent for total discretionary debt).

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is bringing down loan limits on single-family mortgages next year, HUD announced Friday. According to the announcement, FHA's revised ceiling for single-family loan limits will come down to $625,000 from $729,750. "As the housing market continues its recovery, it is important for FHA to evaluate the role we need to play," said FHA Commissioner Carol Galante. "Implementing lower loan limits is an important and appropriate step as private capital returns to portions of the market."