A recent rise in mortgage rates and rising foreclosures and job losses are just a few of the challenges standing in the way of a lasting recovery, economists say. New FHA loan programs have helped struggling homeowners qualify for mortgage refinancing.  In addition FHA announced new financing incentive for 1^st time homebuyers with attractive incentives to finance a new home.  HUD created these new FHA mortgage lending programs in an effort to stimulate the real estate market that has been sluggish nationwide for several years.  With the economy ailing, affordability remains the primary concerns for most Americans considering financing a home.

The US residential real estate market is caught in the worst correction in decades with few reasons to be optimistic as the economy worsens, according to a key housing report released Monday.   “Despite unprecedented federal efforts to stimulate the economy and help homeowners make current mortgage payments, house prices continued to fall and home foreclosures continued to mount in most areas through the 1^st quarter of 2009,” according to the executive summary of the State of the Nation’s Housing annual report released by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.   “While new and existing home sales and single-family starts have shown some signs of stabilizing, ongoing job losses, house price deflation and tighter mortgage underwriting and credit are placing any recovery at risk,” the report said.

“Although there are some signs of improvement or at least steadiness in new construction and sales, housing starts stand near 60-plus year lows, and any life in home sales is coming from distressed foreclosure sales, temporary 1^st -time buyer tax credits and low mortgage interest rates for purchase and refinance that moved higher in recent weeks,” said Nicolas Retsinas, director of Harvard’s Joint Center, in a press release.  “The best that can be said of the market is that house price corrections and steep cuts in housing production are creating the conditions that will lead to an eventual recovery,” added Eric Belsky, executive director of the Joint Center.  “For now, markets remain under considerable stress,” Belsky said.

The bleak study coincided with a separate report from the World Bank warning of more damage in the global economy.   This week, investors will be focusing on housing data and any commentary the Federal Reserve offers on the economy.  “On the economic front, new and existing home sales should show improvement but from very low levels,” said David Kelly, chief market strategist at JPMorgan Funds. “The recent back-up in FHA mortgage rates, although unwelcome, really should not be enough to prevent pent-up demand and still very good affordability from triggering a housing rebound.”   Resource: John Spence, Jeff Moran

In a recent article, Tara-Nicholle Nelson writes about the significance of FHA mortgage loans and tax credits for first time home-buyers.  A few weeks ago, it came out that the number of existing home sales had skyrocketed over the first quarter in the areas hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis: they were up 117% in Nevada, 81% in California, 50% in Arizona and 25% in Florida, year-over-year, and Virginia and Minnesota also had double digit increases.  FHA mortgage lenders have been frothing at the mouth all year, because with low FHA mortgage rates driven by Fed cuts and tax incentives, FHA lending is stronger than ever.  From January to February, prices rose a tiny, but encouraging, .7 %, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly index.

Just last week, the Secretary of HUD announced new federal guidelines for FHA home loans which allow First-Time Homebuyers (FTH) to monetize their $8,000 Obama Tax Credit upfront, for use toward their down payment or closing costs, rather than only after close of escrow.  How will this work? No one really knows yet – federal lending guideline changes usually take a month or so to manifest into concrete checklists and phone numbers you can call to take advantage of them. But it looks like state Housing Finance Agencies and HUD-approved nonprofit organizations will be involved, and will provide the upfront funds to borrowers (for a small fee, of course), which they’ll be reimbursed at tax time next year.

However, the author of the article, noted that she has not heard anyone actually suggest that the upfront monetization of the FHA tax credit won’t be effective at stimulating home sales. On the flip-side, the National Association of Home Buyers’ projections show that about 160,000 homes will be sold as a direct result of this new incentive. But there are folks who don’t like it, and their arguments tend to focus on the worry that no-skin-in-the-game borrowers are the sort of problem homeowner who created the market madness by just walking away when their homes devalued. The pestimistic crowd says that that we might be returning to the bad old days of 100 % financing.

FHA loan overview:
This is a new era of mortgage lending than the stated income days of old (old =2005). It wasn’t no-skin-in-the-game borrowers who walked away and created the foreclosure crisis, it was no-skin-in-the-game borrowers who couldn’t afford their escalating mortgage payments who were the problem children of the real estate market. The upfront monetization of the $8,000 tax credit will only be available for FHA loans, which require full documentation of income, impose strict and low debt-to-income ratios and are characterized by low, 30-year fixed interest rates and payments. This is not a return to the subprime era, when you only needed to be human and alive to get a loan (notwithstanding those few times we saw the deceased and the canine get mortgages).

On careful reading of the few details we do have on this program, it’s clear that it does not, in fact, reduce the amount of down payment funds that need to be deposited by the buyer to get an FHA loan. The $8,000 credit cannot, under current law, be used to meet the minimum 3.5% down payment requirement (although gifts from relatives can). The upfront $8,000 is available for home-buyers to use as extra down payment money (to buy more or lower monthly payments), to pay discount points (reducing their interest rates) or to defray closing costs.  That’s it.

This FHA loan program changes the time frame in which First-Time Homebuyers who close escrow by December 1, 2009 will be able to benefit from their tax credit. Frankly, I’d imagine this will mean lots more folks will put the funds into their homes and into making their loans more affordable. 

The FHA mortgage lending reported endorsing $143.9 billion in single-family FHA home loans in the first six months of fiscal year 2009, up 169% from the same period in FY 2008. The Department of Housing and Urban Development expects FHA endorsements will total $290 billion when the 2009 fiscal year ends on September 30. In March, FHA insured $25.4 billion in single-family FHA loans, including $15.3 billion in FHA refinancing loans, according to an FHA monthly report. The report shows that FHA has a 7.08% serious default rate as of March 31 with 347,500 loans that are 90 days or more past due. FHA had a 6.91% serious default rate back in September. Meanwhile, FHA has a 63% share of the mortgage insurance market, compared to 23% for private mortgage insurers and 13% for Department of Veterans Affairs’ loan guarantee program.

FHA home loan limits were raised materially in 2008, and again in 2009. In early 2009, FHA mortgage market share of new purchases was back to about 15% and its share of mortgage refinancing was substantially higher.   

Compare FHA mortgage rates and FHA lending costs: Borrowers have never been in a better position to qualify for lower mortgage rates.  We suggest analyzing 3 loan offers from different lenders or brokers.  Compare interest rates, loan amounts, origination fees, discount fees, processing fees, underwriting fees and the appraisal fees. Don’t forget that with FHA refinance loans all cash out transactions above 85% Loan to Value now require 2 appraisals from FHA licensed appraisers.  Don’t forget to factor in the upfront mortgage insurance premium, with FHA mortgage loans.  See the complete article at FHA Home Loan Costs.

Check Mortgagee Letter 2009-12, a note from HUD explaining how FHA mortgage loans are to be originated and administered.  In most cases these FHA letters have little content, but this one is a gem. Clearly HUD is concerned about FHA loan defaults, foreclosures and bad mortgages on the public books.

HUD believes that many FHA mortgage lenders have not lived up to the ethic codes and high standards required with FHA underwriting guidelines. That has become a problem because FHA loans that do not meet FHA mortgage lending standards to the letter are likely to be the very loans which cause FHA losses.   In an effort to eliminate this growing concern, HUD says that it “continues to introduce proactive measures to appropriately manage its risk. Recently, FHA reactivated its Special Work Assessment Teams to conduct single-focus on-site reviews of lenders whose originations are exhibiting signs of distress.”

Many insiders, like FHA Mortgage Guide, believe that HUD will be auditing FHA mortgage lenders to make sure these finance companies are originating FHA loans effectively with HUD’s government standards. HUD also said that it “must hold mortgagees accountable for their lending practices in order to protect the public trust and the FHA Insurance Fund.

The Department expects each mortgagee to exercise the same level of care in originating, underwriting and servicing an FHA-insured mortgage as it would for a loan in which the mortgagee would be entirely dependent on the property as security to protect its investment.   When a mortgagee fails to comply with HUD’s policies and procedures, HUD will take the appropriate action. For example, lenders that materially violate FHA loan program statutes, regulations and handbook requirements may be referred to the Mortgagee Review Board for appropriate sanctions, which may include termination of mortgagee approval.”  

HUD has made it clear that compliance with their FHA loan programs is essential or they will remove you from their mortgage lending system. How would you define reasonable and allowable lending fees for FHA home loans? Previously HUD had allowed anywhere from 1-2 points per transaction. The way the mortgage crisis has played out, it has become imperative for most mortgage brokers and lending companies to be able to offer FHA mortgages for new home buying and refinance transactions.  FHA mortgage rates remains at or below 5% for thirty year fixed rate mortgages, so being FHA-approved is at the top of most marketing lists for mortgage companies because the product remains the cornerstone of lending in 2009 and beyond.

HUD’ Checklist for Originating FHA Mortgage Loans-The lenders must at a minimum meet the following criteria listed below:

ü  Reviews all FHA loans with early payment defaults to try and stave off foreclosure.

ü  Has a comprehensive quality control plan.

ü  Does not engage in fraudulent or false or misrepresentative advertising.

ü  Full documentation demonstrating the stability each borrower employment income

ü  No “excessive charges and unallowable fees to the borrower”.