Today it was announced by the Mortgage Bankers Association that approximately 1 in 3 mortgage applications today are seeking FHA or VA loans.
The trend of more and more people getting an FHA loan has been going on for quite some time, and as mortgage guidelines continue to tighten the FHA and VA mortgage programs are as popular as they have ever been.
With so many people getting FHA loans over the past year, it is probably safe to say that many of the people who have recently obtained an FHA loan are “first timers” to the FHA loan program — even if they have had other home loans in the past.
As a result of our post yesterday about the FHA Streamline program, we received the following question worded in a few different ways:
“When exactly does it make sense to refinance using the FHA Streamline program?”
To which my short answer was generally:
“If it puts you in a lower interest rate, lowers your monthly payment and the savings that you realize will pay for the costs in a reasonable amount of time — it is probably a good time to take advantage of it.
But make sure that the benefits outweigh the costs, because there are costs associated with the program and just because you can roll them into your loan doesn’t mean that they are not real.”
Some mortgage professionals are saying that based on the actions by the Fed this week, mortgage rates *should* continue to go lower in the future — but if you can currently get an FHA 30 year fixed rate loan in the mid to low 5% range, I recommend acting on it while you can.