HUD Proposing Pre Purchase Counseling Study.

Notice will be in Federal Register on Wednesday, I have posted advance copy HERE. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Government Assisted Single Family Loan Support in Lake Oswego, First 11 Months of CY 2011: $50+ Million is Conservative Estimate.

The written comments I submitted on the Lake Oswego Foothills plan got me thinking about other broadly defined "government assisted"  housing programs that operate in Lake Oswego.  

While I don't have Fannie or Freddie single family data , I do regularly report on FHA SF activity (see my most recent FHA SF statewide post HERE). 

I downloaded Oct 2011 FHA SF data and went back and extracted Lake Oswego data and for the first 10 months of CY 2011 through October, the data shows more than $27 million in FHA SF insured loans for 86 families.  (See table pasted below for breakouts by loan type)

Note that 27% of the mortgage amounts and 20% of the loans in Lake Oswego through October went to the elderly focused FHA Home Equity Conversion loan program. 

Total of $50+ Million in Federal Support for Home Ownership So Far this Year in Lake Oswego is a Conservative Estimate

If Fannie and Freddie together accounted for same volume as FHA it probably is a conservative estimate to assume that Lake Oswego has seen in exceess of $50 million in "government assisted" single family loan activity this year. (This does not include of course the tax advantages of mortgage interest and property tax deductions).

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog. 

Summary of FHA SF Changes and Timing from FHA Commissioner.

Comprehensive March 2010 summary of recent FHA SF changes, including timing of those changes, from FHA Commissioner Stevens is HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

FHA Mortgagee Letters Now Posted, Changing Up Front Premiums and Lender Termination Procedures.

10-03 is HERE, titled Mortgagee Approval for Single Family Programs - Extended Procedures for Terminating Underwriting Authority

10-04 is HERE titled Increase in Upfront Premiums for FHA Mortgage Insurance.
This letter says" Effective for FHA loans for which the case number is assigned on or after April 5, 2010, FHA will collect an upfront mortgage insurance premium of 2.25 percent."

This upfront fee increase from the current 1.75% rate makes it very likely that there will be stampede of FHA business in the next 3 months with borrowers trying to beat the deadline.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

OHCS SF Bond Program Has 76% Decline in Loan Volume in 2009.

A comparison of Oregon Housing and Community Single Family bond loan production numbers from the Oregon Housing Council packet for the January 22nd meeting shows that the volume of loans is down 76% from 2008.

Here's a table showing 2007-2009 OHCS loan volume data

Year	Loans Purchased	$$ Loans Purchased	Avg Loan Amt
2009	381	$ 58,805,510	$ 154,345
2008	1,598	$ 281,802,764	$ 176,347
2007	1,381	$ 227,155,739	$ 164,486

• Loan volume dropped off big time later in the year, only 10 loans were purchased in December and only 4 in November.
  
• The average 2009 loan amount was about $10,000 less in 2009 than in 2007, and $22,000 less than in 2008.
  
• If OHCS revenue was $1,500 per loan, the decline of 1,217 loans from 2008-2009 meant a reduction in OHCS revenue of $1,825,500.
  
• Dollar volume of Oregon bond loans fell from $282 million in 2008 to $59 million in 2009 (a decline of 79%).
• The 3 county Portland metro area had 46% of all Oregon bond loans in 2009 vs. 43% in 2008.

I prepared a PDF file HERE that shows loan volume for 2008 and 2009 for all Oregon counties; the second page is an extract from the Council Packet and includes $$ volume data also.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Washington State Issues SF Bonds; Their Programs Now Show 5.5%-6% Rate.

The Washington State Housing Finance Commission recently had a modest $20 million SF bond sale.

The Offering Statement is HERE.

WSHFC has three first time home buyer programs that I can see (the first does not require issuance of bonds to proceed).

1. Mortgage Credit Certificate
2. Express Loan Program "(5.500% updated 07/02/2009 and subject to change)"
3. House Key State Bond Program "(Funds are now available at the following interest rates:Fixed interest rate for 30 years: 5.50% (2 points), 5.75% (1 point), 6.00% (0 points)").
   
   

NY Times Gets Busy on NY Metro Foreclosure Coverage.

When I run across a real success in making complex data accessible at the human level, I'm prompted to say, "That's what I'm talkin' about"!

NY Times has nailed it with a new series with stories, pictures, an interactive map and a slide show; only wish is that map was NOT limited to NY metro area.

One of many stories HERE using the data says that minorities affected the most; look at left pane for related stories on subareas within NY metro. Other resources:

• Interactive map, down to street level, is HERE.
• American Dream Threatened slide show is HERE.
• Faces of Foreclosure is HERE.

Kudos to NY Times for great coverage.

HUD to Allow Use of Federal Tax Credit for FHA Down Payment.

Seattle PI.com has story HERE.

Devil will be in details about WHO HUD will allow to front the money against receipt of a future tax benefit. (Sounds like a one year LIHTC at the SF level, no?).

Pretty sure HUD will insure that is NOT a party with an interest in the transaction, like the lender, home builder, or a "non profit" wanting to provide new version of gift funds.

Stay tuned.