The Federal Housing Administration, the
government insurer of home mortgages, is often credited with saving the
home finance market during the worst of the latest housing crash.
When
no one else would lend to lower-income borrowers, the FHA stepped in,
its share of mortgage originations rising from around 3 percent during
the height of the housing boom to close to 40 percent of the home
purchase market at the height of the crash.
That was not without a very high price.
12
percent of FHA loans were delinquent at the end of the first quarter of
2012, with an additional 4 percent already in the foreclosure process;
16 percent of FHA loans are in some form of distress. That is far higher
than the 11 percent of all loans nationally in distress, according to
the most recent data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The higher
delinquency is expected, given that FHA, historically, serves borrowers
with lower credit scores and lower down payments. A borrower needs just
3.5 percent down payment and a 580 credit score to qualify, according to
FHA guidelines.
“FHA
delinquencies are getting worse, and we attribute that mainly to the
age of book. Loans tend to default in the first 3-4 years that they are
out. Because so many of these FHA loans are fairly new, made since 2010,
with the big run-up in FHA originations, 2009 - 2010, these loans now
are running at their peak default period, which makes the FHA defaults
look really high,” says Jay Brinkmann, chief economist at the Mortgage
Bankers Association. But Brinkmann says loan quality is improving by
origination year, and he claims more recent years will offset the bad
years.
Still, the
sheer volume of FHA loans originated during the worst of the housing
crash could play against that hypothesis. When credit dried up in 2008,
volume at the FHA soared, even as home prices plummeted. Given the low
down payment structure at FHA, that inevitably put a significant share
of FHA borrowers underwater very quickly, that is, owing more on their
mortgages than their homes are worth. Of the 11 million underwater
mortgages in the U.S. today, 1.7 million are FHA-insured, according to
CoreLogic. Underwater borrowers are more prone to delinquency.
High
loan losses have put the FHA in a precarious position financially. By
law, it is supposed to maintain a 2 percent capital ratio, or assets
against risks, but its most recent measure put that ratio at .24
percent. That is why the FHA is changing the way it serves the current
mortgage market. It is now serving higher income borrowers to subsidize
its mounting losses, according to a new report from George Washington
University, which accuses the FHA of “mission creep.” In fiscal year
2011, 54 percent of FHA’s activity insured homes whose values were
greater than 125 percent of their area’s median home price, according to
the report. In high-cost markets, like Westchester, NY, 63 percent of
FHA borrowers had incomes greater than 150 percent of the average median
income.
“Partly
in an effort to redeem its mounting and highly publicized delinquencies,
it has expanded to a market – higher income borrowers – that it has not
traditionally served,” notes the reports co-author, Robert Van Order,
professor of finance at GW.
While
the loan limit at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA was raised to a
maximum $729,750 during the worst of the crash, they were all lowered to
$625,500 in the fall of last year. Barely two months later, Congress
reinstated FHA’s higher limit. “A rationale for the change was that it
might help replenish FHA’s capital by increasing the volume of
business,” according to the GW report.
FHA Acting Commissioner Carol Galante responded to the GW findings at the request of CNBC:
"The
growth of borrowers with higher credit scores in FHA's portfolio is
really about the broader constriction of credit. Because the private
market has been so reluctant to lend -- and combined with loan limits
set by Congress that exceed those of the GSEs -- FHA is still playing a
critical, countercyclical role.
However,
while we have not actively sought to expand our share of higher credit
score business, we absolutely agree that as the economy recovers and the
market normalizes, FHA's role should recede and its portfolio once
again be focused on the underserved families FHA was created to serve."
This spring, FHA raised its upfront insurance
premium to 1.75 percent of the loan from .75 percent for most loans and
its annual premium by 0.10 of a percentage point for loans under
$625,000. The increase was expected to bring in $125 billion through
September 2013. The average FICO score for new loans is now 700, despite
the minimum 580 allowed, but the lower down payments are still a
problem.
“While
the FHA may well be serving more higher-income borrowers now, that group
is still less well-heeled than the group accessing Fannie/Freddie
mortgages or portfolio loans at banks,” notes Guy Cecala of Inside
Mortgage Finance, which in a recent survey found more than half of all
first time home buyers using FHA loans. “If you combine FHA’s lower
credit score with very high loan-to-value ratios, it’s not much of a
surprise that FHA would have more problem loans and be more vulnerable
to unemployment and other economic issues.”
FHA’s
higher income borrowers are a relatively recent phenomenon, while its
troubled book of business dates back more than five years. FHA officials
claim its new business will offset losses from the old book, but with
the economy and jobs market still in shaky recovery, the older loans
will still take their toll.
“That’s going to be a drag on the agency’s performance for the foreseeable future,” adds Cecala.
Source: CNBC