Press Release News

The Federal Housing Administration published its annual report and described the work of its single-family mortgage insurance programs in the fiscal year 2023 and the performance of the FHA mutual mortgage insurance fund (MMI fund) to support that work. FHA facilitated access to mortgage credit for around 765,000 homebuyers and homeowners and 33000 seniors who obtained a home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) during the fiscal year despite the challenges in the housing market.

HUD’s Secretary Marcia L. Fudge said, “Purchasing a home is the cornerstone of the American dream, yet it remains far too out-of-reach for many Americans. I am pleased to announce that in 2023, we helped hundreds of thousands of people enter the housing market, enabling entirely new futures for them and their families.”

The annual report highlights FHA’s strong and well-capitalized insurance fund. As of September 30, 2023, the MMI Fund maintained an overall capital ratio of 10.51 percent, showing only a slight 0.6 percentage point decrease from the previous year. The total capital in the MMI Fund increased by $3.6 billion, surpassing $145 billion by the end of fiscal year 2023, in comparison to fiscal year 2022. Furthermore, FHA’s serious delinquency rate, which represents mortgages 90 or more days delinquent in its portfolio, stood at 3.93 percent by the end of fiscal year 2023, similar to the rate before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

HUD’s Assistant Secretary Julia Gordon said, “I’m proud that FHA delivered real solutions this past fiscal year, including a reduction in our mortgage insurance premiums and policy and programmatic changes that expanded access to affordable mortgage credit. The fiscal year 2023 was a difficult year for homebuyers and the professionals who serve them, and FHA’s exceptional team worked hard to support underserved borrowers and communities as well as our business partners in the mortgage and real estate sector.”

The report brings to light the significant role FHA is playing in serving populations not served by the private mortgage market. About 82% of FHA purchase mortgage insurance endorsements went to first-time homebuyers in 2023. The share of FHA’s total endorsements that went to borrowers of color exceeded that of other market participants in the past years. As per the latest data, the percentage of FHA’s mortgages made to black borrowers was triple that of the rest of the market. According to the 2022 data, half of the rural homebuyers obtained low down payment mortgages insured by FHA.