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Buying or Refinancing a home can be a confusing and scary time. To help ease your mind and simplify the process, FHA lowrate.com is dedicated to providing you with the tools and resources to make an educated and informed decision on your new mortgage loan. It's our mission at FHA lowrate.com to help you get the lowest interest rate possible and help YOU decide which loan program is right for YOUR needs before applying for a loan. To get started, explore our website and get informed. Then, let us match you with a lender that will offer you the lowest interest rate possible and will custom tailor the right program to your needs.

Different mortgage loan programs.

FHA MORTGAGE NEWS!

Effective March 6, 2008, HUD will offer temporary FHA loan limits that will range from $271,050 to $729,750 (Limits). Overall, the change in loan limits will help provide economic stability to America's communities and give nearly 240,000 additional homeowners and homebuyers a safer, more affordable mortgage alternative. The maximum amount of $729,750 will only be applicable to extremely high-cost metropolitan areas. Previously, FHA's loan limits in these very high-cost areas were capped at $362,790.

The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 permits FHA to insure loans on amounts up to 125 percent of the area median house price, when that amount is between the national minimum ($271,050) and maximum ($729,750). The new minimum and maximum loan limits are based on 65 percent and 175 percent of the conforming loan limits for Government-Sponsored Enterprises in 2008, which is $417,000. The FHA used a combination of existing government data sets and available commercial information to determine the median sales price for each area. The change in loan limits are applicable to all FHA-insured mortgage loans endorsed with HUD’s publication of the increased loan limits today, and it lasts until December 31, 2008.

By increasing loan limits nationwide, FHA will provide much needed liquidity and stability to housing markets across the country. Already, as conventional sources of mortgage credit have been contracting, FHA has been filling the void. From September to December 2007, FHA facilitated more than $38 billion of much-needed mortgage activity in the housing market, more than $15 billion of which was through FHASecure, FHA's refinancing product. By focusing on 30-year fixed rate mortgages, FHA helps homeowners avoid and escape the risks associated with exotic subprime mortgage products, which have resulted in rising default and foreclosure rates.

"This is not an easy crisis to address, and there is no silver-bullet, but I know that we can help hundreds of thousands of people keep their homes, and we can calm the waters," said HUD Secretary Jackson. In January 2009, FHA's maximum loan limit will return to $362,790, unless the U.S. Congress approves bipartisan legislation to permanently increase loan limits as part of the FHA Modernization bill, which is still awaiting final approval on Capitol Hill.

FHA EXTENDS FINANCING FOR IMMEDIATE PURCHASE OF FORECLOSED HOMES
Measure seen to bring stability to home values and accelerate sale of vacant properties

WASHINGTON - In an effort to stabilize declining home values in certain neighborhoods, the Bush Administration today announced a temporary policy that will extend government-backed mortgage insurance and allow for the immediate sale of vacant foreclosed properties.

For one year, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will insure foreclosed properties marketed and sold by property disposition firms on behalf of lenders. The properties, which must purchased by owner-occupants, will no longer be subject to the customary 90-day waiting period.

"A glut of foreclosed and abandoned homes harms neighborhoods, frustrates homebuyers and delays a community's recovery," said Brian D. Montgomery, Assistant Secretary of Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner. "The action we take today will allow homebuyers to purchase these homes in much greater numbers and ease the excess supply of unsold homes in neighborhoods across the country."

FHA's new temporary policy will help stabilize neighborhoods experiencing high rates of foreclosure by reducing the inventory of unsold properties. Many foreclosed properties remain vacant for months, inviting vandalism and reducing values of surrounding homes. To address that sizeable inventory, lenders have hired companies that specialize in the marketing and disposition of foreclosed homes. It's reasonable and appropriate that these firms have the ability to sell the properties to borrowers using FHA financing.

With certain exceptions, FHA currently prohibits insuring a mortgage on a home owned by the seller for less than 90 days. This prohibition is intended to prevent property "flipping," a predatory practice that strips a home of its equity before being quickly resold at an inflated price to an unsuspecting buyer. FHA's new policy will permit the immediate sale of foreclosed properties to legitimate borrowers wishing to use FHA-insured financing.

To read the full text of this new temporary policy, visit FHA's website.

www.hud.gov/news/

Average interest rates for FHA insured 30yr Fixed Rate Mortgage

BUSH ADMINISTRATION IMPLEMENTS EXPANSION OF FHASECURE MORTGAGE ASSISTANCE FOR STRUGGLING HOMEOWNERS
Fair and flexible insurance plan will help more families and better protect taxpayers against risk

WASHINGTON - The Bush Administration today implemented an expansion of its flagship mortgage insurance program to assist more homeowners who are struggling to keep up with their high-cost subprime adjustable rate mortgages. HUD's Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has expanded its FHASecure refinancing product to help bring liquidity to the housing market and insure more mortgages for borrowers who were late on a few payments and/or received a voluntary mortgage principal write-down from their lender.

"Starting today, even more families will be able to turn to FHA to find an affordable mortgage and save their homes from foreclosure," said HUD Secretary Steve Preston. "This broader FHASecure refinancing product allows FHA to reach even more troubled homeowners without putting taxpayers or its insurance fund at risk."

With this expansion, FHA is on pace to help 500,000 families refinance into a more affordable mortgage product by the end of this year. The plan, which is designed to help address the adverse economic conditions affecting many communities across America, will help break the cycle of house price depreciation that is being caused by an increasing number of foreclosures and the overall contraction in the credit market.

In August 2007, FHA initially modified its refinancing program to help creditworthy homeowners who missed their mortgage payments as a result of the payment shock associated with interest rate resets. Today, FHASecure is expanding its eligibility criteria to homeowners who have gone into default as a result of temporary economic setbacks. FHA will adjust the loan-to-value cap to provide an additional risk control, as follows:

1. Borrowers who are delinquent on their adjustable rate mortgages, but who were late on no more than two monthly mortgage payments over the previous twelve months are eligible for the standard 97 percent loan-to-value (LTV) FHASecure refinance loan.
   
   
2. Borrowers delinquent on their adjustable rate mortgages who were late on three consecutive monthly mortgage payments or at three different times over the past twelve months will be eligible for a 90 percent LTV ratio FHASecure refinance loan.

With these new criteria, the expanded FHASecure can help additional borrowers access a more viable refinancing option and will offer lenders an alternative to foreclosing on these individuals. Lenders may voluntarily write down the outstanding subprime mortgage principal balances to a 97 percent or 90 percent LTV ratio depending on the borrowers' circumstances. FHA will also encourage lenders to make other arrangements, such as subordinate financing, to "fill the gap" between the existing loan balances and the FHA-insurable loan amount. The refinanced loan amount backed by the FHA would be based upon a new appraisal, performed by an FHA-approved appraiser.

Like most other insurance companies, FHA will begin pricing insurance premiums according to borrowers' credit risk. To protect taxpayers, FHA will implement a fair and flexible premium pricing structure. Previously, FHA had a 'one size fits all' premium structure that charged borrowers 1.50 percent of the loan balance upfront and .50 percent annually regardless of their credit standing. product in a responsible manner.

"Fair and flexible premium pricing is a common sense solution to helping more lower-income American families stay in their homes and protecting the solvency of FHA. It is about time our pricing mechanism rewarded lower income families who live within their means and pay their bills on time," said Assistant Secretary for Housing - Federal Housing Commissioner Brian D. Montgomery.

An analysis of FHA borrowers showed that risk-based pricing actually benefits lower-income American families. Contrary to conventional wisdom, FHA families with the lower incomes have higher FICO scores because they live within their means and pay their bills.

Under the new structure, FHA's upfront mortgage insurance premium will range from 1.25 percent to 2.25 percent. Borrowers must continue to adhere to FHA's strict underwriting criteria, such as fully documenting their income and job history. This premium structure will preserve lower premium costs for FHA's traditional borrowers, including low-income and minority families who have a strong credit history and save for a down payment.

By charging slightly higher premiums based on risk, FHA will be able to extend the benefits of its FHASecure program to more homeowners affected by the volatility in the mortgage market. Borrowers refinancing into FHA from the subprime market are better off, even with slightly higher mortgage insurance premiums, because FHA insurance gives them access to substantially lower interest rates and lowers their monthly mortgage payments.

For more information visit FHA's website.