Tag Archives: FHFA

In a recent letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Mel Watt, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the Community Mortgage Lenders of America (CMLA) urged the government to "take immediate action to cure the under-capitalization" of the GSEs by re-amending the payment terms established when they were forced to take a bailout after the crash.

According to survey results released by the Collingwood Group this week, 33 percent of mortgage lenders, servicers, and other industry professionals believe business conditions are "a little better" than they were last year. That compares to 31 percent of respondents who said the same thing in October.

By lowering the down payment down to 3 percent, leaders from the GSEs and the Federal Housing Finance Administration (FHFA) hope to increase homeownership and particularly household formation by offering loans to those who can afford mortgages but lack resources to make a 20 percent down payment plus closing costs.

In a report released Monday, the Collingwood Group said that 65 percent of lenders and other mortgage industry workers support the push for GSE reform, calling their current state of conservatorship under the Federal Housing Finance Agency unsustainable. At the same time, none of the survey respondents called for a wind-down or elimination of the GSEs.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced Friday it will leave loan limits unchanged for the highest- and lowest-cost housing markets in 2015. For most high-cost housing markets, the maximum allowable amount for an FHA loan will stay at $625,000, a threshold first set at the start of this year.

Months after the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) first unveiled a rule establishing eligibility requirements for private insurers, the agency informed some of the nation's top firms it doesn't plan to release a finalized rule until close to the end of Q1 2015 or later, according to an announcement from U.S. Mortgage Insurers (USMI).

Together, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reported 389,284 refinances throughout the third quarter, according to their conservator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The figure compares to a total of 344,507 in the second quarter. As refinance volumes rose, the share of refinances completed through the government's Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) fell further.

FHFA reported Tuesday that U.S. house prices, based on home sales price information from mortgages sold to, or guaranteed by, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, rose 0.9 percent in the third quarter. While that does show a continuation of the growth the U.S. market has enjoyed for the past three years, the rate of growth is down from 4.5 percent compared to the third quarter of 2013.

In an release, FHFA announced that the maximum limit for mortgages acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will stay at $417,000 for single-unit properties in most of the country, with a maximum of $625,500 for certain high-cost areas. Forty-six counties will see an increase based on their own local conditions.

The strategic plan outlines three goals for FHFA for the forthcoming fiscal years: ensure safe and sound regulated entities; ensure liquidity, stability, and access in housing finance; and manage the enterprises' ongoing conservatorship.