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USDA Lowers Mortgage Insurance Fees for USDA Home Loan Program

USDA Lowers Mortgage Insurance Fees for USDA Home Loan Program

Michael Jensen, Mortgage and Finance Guru
, Mortgage and Finance Guru
Edited by Harry Jensen

As of October 1, 2016, the USDA lowered the upfront and ongoing mortgage insurance fees for the USDA Guaranteed Home Loan Program.  The USDA Home Loan Program enables eligible borrowers to buy homes located in federally-designated rural areas with no down payment.  The program is designed to help individuals with low-to-moderate incomes afford to buy homes in rural communities.  USDA guaranteed home loans are available through approved lenders such as banks, mortgage  brokers, mortgage banks and credit unions but the loans are backed, or insured, by the USDA.

The USDA charges borrowers upfront and ongoing monthly fees to provide insurance that protects lenders in the event that borrowers default on their mortgage and cannot repay their loan.  These fees are similar to upfront and ongoing FHA mortgage insurance premium (MIP) for an FHA home loan or the monthly private mortgage insurance (PMI) fee for a conventional loan.  The upfront USDA mortgage insurance fee is also called a guarantee fee and the ongoing mortgage insurance fee is known as an annual fee (even though borrowers pay the fee monthly along with their mortgage payment).

On October 1st, the USDA reduced the upfront mortgage insurance fee from 2.0% of the loan amount to 1.0% of the loan amount and reduced the ongoing annual insurance fee from 0.5% of the loan amount to 0.35% of the loan amount.  The reduction in the upfront and ongoing USDA mortgage insurance fees reduces closing costs and total monthly housing expense for borrowers.

For example, based on the lower fees, for a $200,000 loan the upfront guarantee fee is reduced from approximately $4,080 to $2,020 and the ongoing monthly fee is reduced from $85.00 to $59.00. The example below demonstrates how the fees are calculated.

Up-front USDA mortgage insurance or guarantee fee

Ongoing monthly USDA mortgage insurance fee

Reducing mortgage insurance fees for the USDA home loan program should make home ownership more attainable for more borrowers, especially for people who can afford to make a monthly mortgage payment but who may struggle to save money for closing costs.
FREandCLEAR provides a comprehensive overview of the USDA Home Loan Program including borrower qualification requirements and property eligibility guidelines.  We also encourage you to use our USDA Home Loan Calculator to determine what size USDA loan you can afford as well as the upfront and monthly USDA mortgage insurance costs based on the new, lower guarantee and annual fee rates.

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About the author
Michael Jensen, Mortgage and Finance Guru

Michael is the co-founder of FREEandCLEAR. Michael possesses extensive knowledge about mortgages and finance and has been writing about mortgages for nearly a decade. His work has been featured in leading national and industry publications. More about Michael

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