by Calculated Risk on 8/25/2009 06:46:00 PM

From Matt Padilla at the O.C. Register: Housing demand could snag on mortgage insurance

Matt quotes an article from the National Mortgage News:

The GSEs can purchase single-family mortgages with loan-to-value ratios higher than 80% only if the homebuyer gets mortgage insurance. The FHFA Mortgage Market Note issued a few days after Mr. Lockhart’s departure projects that the demand for such high LTV loans could hit $230 billion in 2009. The ability of the MIs to meet that level of demand is “remote,” FHFA report says. “The industry’s ability to build and maintain sufficient capital to meet the needs of the enterprises over the short term without some federal assistance or an infusion of private capital is unclear,” the report concludes.
emphasis added

Another goverment program?