Government

Citing concerns about the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) low capital reserve ratio and its 2013 bailout, senators Bob Corker (R-Tennessee) and David Vitter (R-Louisiana) are calling on the Obama administration to reconsider its plan to cut FHA's annual mortgage insurance premium by half a percentage point.

In a mortgagee letter issued Friday, HUD announced that the reduction in annual premiums—which will bring premiums down to 0.85 percent on most FHA loans—will affect mortgages with case numbers assigned on or after January 26.

With 2015 less than two weeks underway, Fitch Ratings is the latest forecaster predicting great things for housing in the coming year. However, unlike other commentators, whose projections were based on encouraging market trends, the ratings agency says it's a combination of recent government actions that reinforces its view.

In a widely anticipated move, U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) was elected Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs for the 114th Congress, according to an announcement from Shelby's website Thursday.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said Friday that the national unemployment rate was down to 5.6 percent by year-end 2014, bringing that number down to its lowest level since June 2008. Economists had expected the jobless rate would fall slightly to 5.7 percent and that non-farm payrolls would increase by 245,000.

A day after the White House announced plans to cut the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) mortgage insurance premium by 50 basis points, politicians and commentators are still wrestling with the reduction's potential impact on the housing market, the mortgage insurance industry, and the agency itself.

In a speech Thursday morning in Phoenix, President Barack Obama spoke of the progress the housing market has made since 2009 and measures his administration is taking to help everyone achieve homeownership.

HUD Secretary Julian Castro is scheduled to speak at the National Press Club (NPC) luncheon on January 13 to address the state of the housing industry and what HUD's plans are for 2015, the NPC announced on Tuesday.

The White House announced Wednesday that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will reduce mortgage insurance premiums in an effort to boost U.S. homeownership. The announcement is welcome news to many of housing's biggest trade organizations, who have been vocal in the past few months about the consequences of higher premiums.

Southfield, Michigan-based lender GTL Investments, Inc., recently agreed to pay $4.2 million to settle claims regarding the origination of federally-backed mortgage loans that were not properly underwritten, according to an announcement from U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara McQuade.