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 September 04, 2009

2009 Busiest Year Ever for FHA
Throughout the year so far nearly 25% of all newly granted home mortgages are backed up by the FHA, marking this as the agency's busiest year on record.
Since October of 2008, applications for FHA-backed mortgages have shown a 50% increase. Furthermore, approvals for home purchases, reverse mortgages and refinancing have increased seventy percent to over 1.5 million.

Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy believes that FHA loans are a key resource in the current market. He feels that without FHA loans, the housing market slide would be much worse.

The agency's success is not without its critics; some analysts are concerned at the amount of risk that FHA has assumed over the past year. Other analysts have been quick to point out that the typical FHA borrower possesses an average credit score of six ninety. This score is up from the average of six thirty only two years ago. Current rules require that borrowers who hold a credit score of five hundred or less must come up with a down payment of at least 10%.