Military-targeted mortgage initiatives launch in honor of Veterans Day

As the country celebrates Veterans Day, home financing companies are launching a number of initiatives that aim to help those who serve and their families.

The first Veterans Day (then called Armistice Day) was celebrated in 1919, commemorating the cessation of hostilities in World War I one year prior. In 1954, the current moniker was adopted to honor those who served in all wars to celebrate and memorialize them.

The GI Bill, formally named the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944 and revised several times since, included provisions for the funding of home purchases, although as several critics have noted, in the 1950s, those primarily benefited white veterans only.

In the most recent application data, mortgages guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs made up 12.6% of the market, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

For August, the last month this information is available on the VA website, 39,163 loans were guaranteed by the agency with a total dollar volume of just under $15 billion. The average loan amount was $382,580.

Even with 100% loan-to-value financing, delinquencies are not an issue. In the third quarter, VA mortgages had a 4.58% delinquency rate, down 5 basis points from the second quarter, although up 82 basis points from one year prior.

In comparison, Federal Housing Administration loans had a 10.46% delinquency rate for the period ended Sept. 30, while conventional mortgages had a 2.63% late payment rate.

Nearly three-quarters of those who purchased a home last year using VA financing did not make any down payment on the property, Realtor.com said.

Adding in those that put down up to 10%, the share grows to 83.5%. Realtor.com used information obtained from Optimal Blue for its findings.

The average down payment for a VA loan was 4.6%, versus the 19.7% average for conforming loans. Any conforming loan with an LTV over 80% requires the use of private mortgage insurance as a credit enhancement.

When it comes to borrowers with what was considered to be a “fair” credit score, just under one-quarter, 23.2 of VA borrowers were in this bucket, compared with just 4.5% of those who got a government-sponsored enterprise-eligible mortgage.

A knowledge gap among eligible veterans is likely holding program usage back.

“Despite the significant advantages provided to veterans with VA loans, according to a survey conducted by Veterans United Home Loans, only three in 10 veterans and active-duty service members were aware of the zero down payment benefits of VA loans,” Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, said in a press release. “With this research, we hope to empower veteran households with the knowledge and tools they need to make informed decisions about their homeownership goals and financial well-being.”

Here are some recent announcements regarding home financing for veterans: