U.S. state housing finance agency (HFA) delinquency rates continued their improvement relative to their respective states in the second quarter of 2014, a report by Standard & Poor's says.
"The 1.65 percentage point gap between housing finance agency and state loan pool delinquencies was the smallest we've observed since the third quarter of 2012," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Lawrence Witte.
The article, "U.S. State Housing Finance Agency Delinquency Rates Continued To Improve In the Second Quarter Of 2014," notes that for the past five years, the delinquency rate for HFA loans has ranged between 6% and 8%. Despite the improvement, most HFAs are unable to add new loans to their balance sheets.
If HFAs were able to add new whole loans to their bond programs, their delinquency rates would be similar to or even below those of similar loans pools in the respective states, the rater said.
