[Dacula]

President Donald Trump’s first executive order blocked a mortgage insurance premium cut that would have reduced the cost of mortgages for millions of middle-class home buyers.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development sent a letter Friday informing lenders, real estate brokers and closing agents the 0.25 percent premium rate cut for Federal Housing Administration-backed loans was suspended.

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The order, made about an hour after Trump took office, reverses a policy change announced Jan. 9 by the Obama administration that would have saved borrowers about $500 a year.

The FHA insures about 16 percent of the homes sold in the country. The loans are popular with first-time home buyers and those without the best credit.

The rate change would have gone into effect Friday.

[Snowybear]

Anyone have any idea why this was done? On the face of it the cut sounds good but I’m sure there is good reason why it was stopped.

[LostInBayport]

The loans are popular with first-time home buyers and those without the best credit.

And buried in a dimly-lit corner of the article is the key point.

These are more often than not risky loans (in the "below average" credit score range) and hindering the fund that ensures them by reducing payments to it is not a good idea. Plus, if an additional five hundred bucks a year ends the deal, you are stretched too thin to buy a house in the first place!