Tag Archives: FHA

Making good on promises by policymakers from both parties, Congress allowed the $729,750 threshold for conforming loans with federal guarantees to expire Saturday, pinching high-end borrowers in a marginal number of counties and potentially leaving a swath of new market share for private bankers. Homebuyers looking for more than $625,000 in financing for their mortgage loans will accordingly fall short of eligibility requirements needed for federal insurance.

Investment company Chrysalis Holdings, LLC, has added a new face to its board of directors, recently appointing Rear Admiral Thomas C. Lynch to its membership.

Ahead of lower limits for conforming jumbo loans, nearly assured in October as Congress disagrees even over stopgap spending bills, the Federal Reserve offered a revealing look at the market Friday by releasing a report on the health of the housing market. The consensus: falling limits will likely only nudge the jumbo loan market, not tip it over, as some critics claim. The Fed found that the current criteria for a jumbo fences in only 1.3 percent of all loans backed by GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Mortgage application volume crept up from last week, with refinancing activity leaping ahead of purchases, according to a weekly survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Stacks of applications around the nation thickened by less than 1 percent from the previous week, largely as a result of climbing mortgage rates. The Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, a measure of total application volume by the trade group, pulled together several indices that reflect volume.

Speaking before Congress' joint session Thursday evening, President Barack Obama unveiled a $447 billion jobs bill - and plans to allow millions of eligible homeowners to refinance their mortgages at current rates.

Freddie Mac and HUD recently stepped up home relief programs for eligible borrowers who saw their property and prized possessions wash away with the tidewaters of Hurricane Irene. The availability of federal relief will allow qualifying homeowners in distress to gain reprieve from late fees and penalties likely to result from delayed mortgage payments, avoid foreclosure and eviction from their homes, and take advantage of HUD insurance policies to revamp their residences.

Churchill Mortgage Corp. named a new face to its Brentwood-based call center branch in Tennessee. The mortgage lender made the announcement that it had put forward Kevin Watson as the new manager of the call center. According to a statement released by the mortgage lender, Watson arrives in his role with some 20 years of mortgage banking experience.

Despite all-time highs for home affordability, homebuilders are seeing less demand for home construction and more for multifamily rentals, with the Federal Housing Administration recently releasing a report that signals new highs for rental properties across the country. The FHA said that it has endorsed some $10.5 billion in multifamily rental housing loans ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô seven times the number of loans made three years ago and the only second time that the FHA has lent so much.

Despite the rash of research and news reports about consumers staying wary of new purchases, some markets are seeing first-time homebuyers run to take advantage of historically low prices and mortgage rates, particularly in government-backed mortgage programs, according to a research note from Credit Suisse. The research firm said that the scramble to scoop up new properties occurred particularly among state and federal programs. The research note questioned whether builders will continue with current valuations.

Some 240 lenders across the country got in trouble with the Federal Housing Administration this year, with the federal agency announcing sanctions on Friday that included revocations of approval, suspensions, reprimands, and civil monetary fines. The FHA's Mortgagee Review Board slapped lenders with administrative penalties for scrimping on loan criteria required by the federal agency, which it said in some cases resulted in over-insured loans, excessive and duplicative fees for borrowers, among other things.