One word can summarize HUD’s 2023 mortgage insurance volume – meh! Here is a look at Fiscal Year (FY) 23, which ended on September 30.
Multifamily
- In FY 23 HUD closed $9.542 billion in loans, a decrease of 55% from the prior year, when HUD closed $21.009 billion in loans.
- HUD closed loans for 515 multifamily projects: 329 refinance/purchase loans, 116 new construction/substantial rehabilitation loans and 70 risk-share loans. This is down from FY 22, when HUD closed loans for 1,077 projects.
- Even though overall volume was down, affordable housing rocks! It represented 60% of HUD’s mortgage insurance commitments in FY 23 up from 53% in FY 22.
LEAN/Healthcare
- HUD closed $2.868 billion for 196 loans in FY 23. This was a slight decline of 3.00% in loan volume from FY 22, when it closed $2.957 billion for 269 loans.
- HUD approved $2.880 billion for 186 loans in FY 23; this was a decline of 12.6% from FY 22, when it approved $3.296 billion for 279 loans. The number of loans approved declined by 33.3%.
- Refinancing and acquisition loans continue to dominate LEAN lending: for FY 22 and 23, they represented over 95% of loans approved and closed.
So why the down volume in FY 23? Get five mortgage bankers in a room and ask that question, and you will get at least 10 explanations. Higher interest rates, inflationary pressures on construction costs and a more conservative lending climate have been significant factors in the decline in multifamily construction loans. Higher rates also have dampened refinance activity; and, in the healthcare sector, staffing shortages, the withdrawal of COVID relief funds and inadequate Medicaid reimbursement also have posed significant challenges.
However, those of us who are longstanding participants in HUD’s lending programs know what goes down eventually goes up, and we are seeing signs of increased activity and interest in HUD-insured loans.
And, despite higher interest rates, not all refinancing transactions are directly driven by debt service savings. Wut? Please contact us if you are interested in knowing why we believe there are many more elements to a refinancing than debt service savings.
