FHA Volume Surging at Primary Residential Mortgage, Inc.
SALT LAKE CITY, UT — AUGUST 31, 2007 — Mirroring market-wide demand, Primary Residential Mortgage, Inc. (PRMI) has seen a 71% increase from January to August of this year in federally insured Federal Housing Administration loans. Having been a HUD/FHA Direct Endorsement lender since 1998, the company is using their extensive experience to help borrowers utilize FHA loans.
As recently as 2003, PRMI closed 5721 FHA loans, and the company expects volume to surge again as investors continue to tighten guidelines and eliminate other comparable products. As options for first-time home buyers and the credit-impaired decrease, borrowers are once again turning to FHA hoping to find relief. FHA loans offer several benefits, including low down payments, low closing costs, and easy credit qualifying.
"PRMI has a long history of serving lower- to moderate-income households with FHA loans," says Dave Zitting, CEO and President of PRMI. "Options are shrinking in other product channels, and we see this as an attractive option for our customers."
In spite of the FHA program's attractive features, several factors have made it less competitive in recent years. Though FHA loans boast low down payments, they have suffered from low limits and cumbersome paperwork. In response, private lenders stepped in with no down-payment programs and efficient automatic underwriting systems. But with private sector options dwindling due to market conditions, FHA is once again in demand, and the industry has been awaiting a modernization of the program to make it even more viable.
"We've been hoping to see an adjustment in guidelines, and PRMI is elated to hear of President Bush's newly proposed ‘FHA Secure' program," says Zitting. "We're confident this is a step in the right direction not just for the mortgage community, but more importantly, for borrowers. Our Board of Directors has met to discuss the positive implications this has and our intention is to support the lending community in the newly proposed program."
The president's proposal is intended to help stem the tide of foreclosures by allowing borrowers to refinance through FHA at more favorable rates. If approved by the House and Senate, FHA guidelines will be subject to the following changes:
1. Additional relaxed credit and mortgage-late guidelines
2. Increase in FHA loan limits
3. Increased loan-to-value limits for both Refinance and Purchase transactions
PRMI is actively encouraging its Branches nationwide to utilize these loans in the appropriate scenarios, and if they are not already, to meet company requirements to become an FHA-approved Branch.
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