An hour after President Donald Trump was sworn in, the federal government canceled a reduction to Federal Housing Administration loan premiums that would have saved first-time homebuyers $500 a year.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said Friday morning that a plan to lower FHA loan costs by 0.25 basis points was suspended indefinitely.
The cut, announced earlier this month, was supposed to go into effect on Jan. 27.
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About one-fourth of all metro Phoenix homebuyers used an FHA-backed mortgage in 2016, according to The Information Market.
Trump picked Ben Carson, whom he ran against in the Republican primary, to lead HUD.
The last time FHA mortgage premiums were lowered was in early 2015, when then-President Barack Obama announced a 50 basis point cut to the federal loan premiums during a Phoenix speech.
That drop help spur an increase in first-time homebuyers in the Valley.
Federally backed loans require premiums to offset losses to the government if a borrower stops making payments and defaults on the loan.
