Tag Archives: Investors

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.

In Colorado, LenderLive Network Inc. announced the implementation of Adeptive Software's ResWare Platform to leverage the automate workflow in the company's Settlement Services division.

The level of commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding increased $25.2 billion in Q3, with all four major investor groups increasing their holdings, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported. The quarterly increase (representing about a 1.0 percent gain) was the largest since 2008, MBA reported. As of the end of the third quarter, total commercial and multifamily debt outstanding was $2.47 trillion. Just on the multifamily side, outstanding debt increased $10.8 billion (1.2 percent) to $887 billion.

Despite a reported rise in homebuyer confidence in the third quarter--the first this year--unrealistic mortgage rate expectations could lead the housing recovery astray.

As the newly confirmed Mel Watt prepares to take the reins at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), current Acting Director Edward DeMarco has announced changes to the agency's senior staff.

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.

Fay Servicing, a Chicago-based special servicer, has earned stable outlooks from both S&P and Fitch Ratings.

Fixed mortgage rates moved down slightly this week, reflecting a lack of much solid news for markets to latch on to. Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey shows the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaging 4.42 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending December 12, a decrease from 4.46 percent last week. The same time last year, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.32 percent. Bankrate.com reported even smaller changes in its weekly survey. According to the finance site, the 30-year fixed averaged 3.55 percent this week, unchanged from the last report.

Applications for new home purchases plummeted from October to November, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) estimates in its latest Builder Application Survey (BAS).

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).