Newsroom
January 07, 2015
NAFCU to FHA: Lower mortgage premiums
NAFCU and other organizations jointly urged the Federal Housing Administration to reduce the cost of single-family mortgage insurance premiums so more borrowers are able to afford mortgages.
NAFCU strongly supports this change, which would help make mortgages more affordable to more consumers and further advance the housing recovery.
President Barack Obama is expected to announce a 50-basis-point cut in the annual FHA insurance premium in remarks today.
As noted in Wednesday's letter, annual insurance premiums have increased by almost 150 percent since 2011. The number of families purchasing homes with FHA-insured mortgages is 44 percent below the historic norm.
"In recent years, a combination of strong management, significant premium increases, and improvement in the economy has put the agency well on track to meet its capital reserve requirement by 2016, while policy changes to reduce risk layering have helped decrease risk," NAFCU and other letter signatories said Wednesday. "However, considering FHA's significant drop in volume and market share in recent years, it appears that the premium increases have kept many potential borrowers on the sidelines."
The letter also noted the cost of the housing crisis to the agency's capital reserve, but it said, "We believe it is now time for FHA to enable more households to access homeownership by reducing mortgage insurance premiums while still maintaining fiscal prudence and continuing the trajectory toward full replenishment of the fund."
Other signers on the letter included the Community Mortgage Lenders of America, Habitat for Humanity International, the Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Urban League.
NAFCU strongly supports this change, which would help make mortgages more affordable to more consumers and further advance the housing recovery.
President Barack Obama is expected to announce a 50-basis-point cut in the annual FHA insurance premium in remarks today.
As noted in Wednesday's letter, annual insurance premiums have increased by almost 150 percent since 2011. The number of families purchasing homes with FHA-insured mortgages is 44 percent below the historic norm.
"In recent years, a combination of strong management, significant premium increases, and improvement in the economy has put the agency well on track to meet its capital reserve requirement by 2016, while policy changes to reduce risk layering have helped decrease risk," NAFCU and other letter signatories said Wednesday. "However, considering FHA's significant drop in volume and market share in recent years, it appears that the premium increases have kept many potential borrowers on the sidelines."
The letter also noted the cost of the housing crisis to the agency's capital reserve, but it said, "We believe it is now time for FHA to enable more households to access homeownership by reducing mortgage insurance premiums while still maintaining fiscal prudence and continuing the trajectory toward full replenishment of the fund."
Other signers on the letter included the Community Mortgage Lenders of America, Habitat for Humanity International, the Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Urban League.
Share This
Related Resources
Add to Calendar 2024-05-03 14:00:00 2024-05-03 14:00:00 Plan Sponsor Attitudes Toward Retirement Plan Management and Fiduciary Outsourcing About the Webinar In January 2024, Pentegra conducted a survey of retirement plan sponsors and their perspectives on retirement plan management and fiduciary outsourcing. The survey measured how sponsors are using fiduciary outsourcing to help better manage their retirement plans. It also captured their perspectives on what outsourcing does to help them better position their plans and drive improved retirement plan outcomes. Key Takeaways: What is the full scope of your responsibilities as a plan sponsor? What is fiduciary outsourcing and how does it work? How does fiduciary outsourcing help reduce workloads and minimize risk? How can a credit union best position its plan to drive improved outcomes? Register Here Web NAFCU digital@nafcu.org America/New_York public
Plan Sponsor Attitudes Toward Retirement Plan Management and Fiduciary Outsourcing
preferred partner
Pentegra
Webinar
Ensuring Safety and Soundness with AI
Management, Consumer Lending, FinTech
preferred partner
Upstart
Blog Post
Turning Lemons into Lemonade: Capitalizing in a Post-Banking Crisis Era
Strategy
preferred partner
Allied Solutions
Blog Post
Add to Calendar 2024-05-02 14:00:00 2024-05-02 14:00:00 Mastering Resilience in Incident Response Plans About the Webinar An Incident Response (IR) plan is crucial for guiding credit unions through major incidents efficiently and effectively. However, many IR plans lack resilience, making them less adaptable to the evolving threat landscape. Join us for our webinar Mastering Resilience in Incident Response Plans where DefenseStorm cyber experts Elizabeth Houser and James Bruhl will delve into the importance of resiliency within cybersecurity IR plans. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn how to: Ensure IR plan accessibility so that all team members with assigned roles are prepared for effective incident response. Conduct efficient and regular reviews to ensure roles and responsibilities are current, tools are relevant, and compliance requirements are met. Implement and utilize tabletops to regularly test the effectiveness of your IR plan. Enhance preparedness, efficiency, and confidence among responders. View On-Demand Web NAFCU digital@nafcu.org America/New_York public
Mastering Resilience in Incident Response Plans
preferred partner
DefenseStorm
Webinar
Get daily updates.
Subscribe to NAFCU today.