Government-insured mortgage originations edged higher during the first month of this year and appeared to hold up in February. The delinquency rate dropped.
Approximately 70,740 mortgages for $12.753 billion were endorsed during January by the Federal Housing Administration, according to operational data released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Business inched up from the previous month, when FHAÂ endorsed 67,614 loans for $12.015 billion.
Endorsement activity, however, slid compared to the same month in the previous year, when roughly 140,350 mortgages were endorsed for $26.115 billion.
January 2014 endorsements included 65,389 single-family loans for $11.360 billion, 5,054 home-equity conversion mortgages for a maximum claim amount of $1.387 billion, and 297 Title I loans for $0.006 billion.
New FHAÂ business is likely to continue at the same pace in February based on new applications, which inched up to 76,715 from 73,642 applications received in December.
Since FHAÂ started its fiscal-year 2014 on Oct. 1, 2013, it has endorsed 293,759 loans for $51.958 billion.
FHAÂ insurance was in force on 8,517,933 loans for $1.2453 trillion as of Jan. 31, 2014.
Outstandings were higher than at the end of last year, when the total was 8,482,201 loans for $1.2446 trillion.
The most recent total reflected $1.0970 trillion in single-family loans, $0.1473 trillion in HECMs and $0.0010 trillion in Title I loans.
FHAÂ reported a 30-day delinquency rate, including bankruptcies and foreclosures, of 14.23 percent as of the end of January.
Delinquency declined from 14.87 percent at the end of last year and 16.12 percent as of Jan. 31, 2013.
The serious delinquency rate of 7.83 percent reflected loans at least 90 days past due, a 1.07 percent bankruptcy rate and a 2.2 percent foreclosure rate.
FHAÂ reported 10,412 insured multifamily loans outstanding for $65.437 billion. Outstandings finished last year at 10,458 loans for $65.182 billion.
