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For release:
January 8, 2015

CALIFORNIA REALTORS® applaud lowering of FHA mortgage insurance premium

LOS ANGELES (Jan. 8) – The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) today issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s upcoming announcement to cut the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) mortgage insurance premiums by 50 basis points.

"Reducing FHA mortgage insurance premiums will make it easier for hundreds of thousands of home buyers to get a mortgage and provide greater access to homeownership for historically underserved groups and credit worthy families," said C.A.R. President Chris Kutzkey. "Moreover, this shift in policy will also increase the volume of borrowers using FHA-backed loans, while continuing to contribute to the solvency of FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) Fund and making the dream of homeownership a reality for millions more Americans."

The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR) estimates that in 2013, nearly 400,000 creditworthy borrowers were priced out of the housing market because of high FHA insurance premiums. Over the past four years, the share of first-time home buyers using FHA-backed loans shrank from 56 percent to 39 percent.

Leading the way…® in California real estate for more than 100 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (www.car.org) is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States, with more than 165,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles.

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