With all the attention being paid to TRID compliance and changes, it seems that lenders have loosened some their credit standards in some areas to help make more loans. Maybe, this is the result of more independent mortgage bankers doing more FHA lending. Whatever it is, Equifax recently reported that loans made to consumers with an Equifax Risk Score of…
HUD/FHA announced on Jan. 28th, that it will be lowering mortgage insurance rates for multifamily (5 or more units) mortgages in an effort to increase multifamily loan originations. This could result in the rehabilitation of as many as 12,000 additional units of affordable housing per year on a national basis. Default/claim rates on the FHA multifamily loan portfolio have traditionally…
If you recall, I recently wrote about the intention of Fannie and Freddie to begin requiring a new expanded credit score model. This new model will take into account a consumer’s credit trends (historical use of credit) plus begin the utilization of heretofore non-traditional credit sources (Credit Scores). It seems the good old FICO credit score ain’t so good no…
According to the November 2015 Freddie Mac Multi-Indicator Market Index, the MiMi (don’t you just love these acronyms?), housing markets across this nation are doing quite well (MiMi). This report indicates that most markets are improving thanks to better employment and current mortgage payment trends. In November, the MiMi index increased to 82.5. This is about 39% higher than the…
We’re off and running. The 2016 presidential race is officially underway with the completion of the Iowa Caucus. What is a “Caucus” anyway? It’s a meeting of supporters or members of a particular political party or movement. So, what we had was a meeting of supporters of the movement to elect a new president who put forth their opinions on…
The debate rages on among the mortgage lending professionals and their respective trade groups. Should FHA again reduce their required mortgage insurance premiums? If so, should they reduce the upfront premium, the annual renewals, or maybe both? (FHA Cut). Proponents of the additional rate cuts say that the prior actions to reduce the annual premiums helped make FHA loans much…
