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71 December 2024 J O U R N A L December 2024 » grew to $1.5 trillion by the end of fiscal year 2024, representing a $123.8 billion increase from the previous fiscal year. • Portfolio Size: FHA's insured portfolio contained approximately 7.81 million single-family forward mortgages and 287,000 HECMs at the end of fiscal year 2024, empha- sizing FHA's substantial role in the housing market. Notwithstanding a market still limited by rising interest rates and a shortage of available housing, HUD built on its efforts during the previ- ous three years of the Biden-Harris administration to eliminate obstacles to homeownership and carry out its re- sponsibility of offering sustainable and reasonably priced access to mortgage credit in fiscal year 2024. Over 793,000 homeowners and homebuyers, includ- ing over 26,000 seniors who secured a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) throughout the fiscal year, were able to access mortgage financing thanks to FHA in fiscal year 2024. Furthermore, FHA kept offering a very useful suite of resources to assist borrowers who were still recuperating from the pandemic's effects, experienc- ing natural disasters, or dealing with other financial difficulties in staying in their homes. FHA maintains a highly robust, well-capitalized insurance fund, ac- cording to the annual report. The MMI Fund's capital ratio was 11.47% as of September 30, 2024, up 0.96 percentage points from fiscal year 2023. The MMI Fund's total capital increased from $27.5 billion to $172.8 billion as a result. Furthermore, as of September 30, 2024, FHA's substantial delinquency rate— the proportion of mortgages in its portfolio that are 90 days or more past due—was 4.15%, which is comparable to rates before the COVID-19 epidemic started. "The exceptional team of public servants at FHA and throughout this Administration continued to deliver a world-class mortgage program to sup- port the nation's homebuyers in fiscal year 2024," Federal Housing Commis- sioner Julia Gordon said. "Through our work, we have demonstrated that FHA can facilitate homeownership and wealth-building opportunities for hundreds of thousands of households and provide support for homeowners facing hardships while maintaining a financially sound Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund." The report emphasizes how crucial FHA is in helping groups that the private mortgage market does not sufficiently serve. This year, first-time homebuy- ers accounted for almost 82% of FHA purchase mortgage insurance endorse- ments. As in previous years, borrowers of color received a far larger percentage of FHA's overall endorsements than did other market participants. The latest data available for the calendar year 2023 shows that 16.7 percent of FHA's total mortgage volume was made to Black borrowers, about 2.5 times the market average, and 22.85% was made to Hispanic borrowers— nearly twice as high. Lastly, data from the calendar year 2023 shows that near- ly half of all rural homebuyers received mortgages insured by FHA. GINNIE MAE ANNOUNCES RISK-BASED CAPITAL RELIEF FOR MSRS G innie Mae, in All Participants Memorandum 24-12, has an- nounced that issuers who have a track record of managing their interest rate exposure through Mortgage Ser- vicing Rights (MSRs) hedging and who meet prescribed eligibility requirements may qualify for Risk-Based Capital Ratio (RBCR) requirement relief. To determine if it will grant risk-based capital relief, Ginnie Mae "The latest data available for the calendar year 2023 shows that 16.7% of FHA's total mortgage volume was made to Black borrowers, about 2.5 times the market average, and 22.85% was made to Hispanic borrowers— nearly twice as high."