Key Findings
📉Wells Fargo is exiting FHA — denial rate rose from 46.7% (2018) to 58.5% (2024), a +11.8pp increase over 7 years. FHA volume has dropped 63% since 2019.
🏆CrossCountry is the historically maintained lower FHA denial rates — denial rate has stayed between 5.5% and 8.6% for all 7 years. Lowest variance of any major lender.
🔄Freedom Mortgage: dramatic volatility — went from 49% (2018) to 7.6% (2021) to 24.4% (2024). COVID-era FHA push reversed as volume declined.
📈PennyMac made the biggest improvement — from 52.8% (2018) to 26.6% (2024). Invested heavily in FHA infrastructure 2020–2021.
⚠️loanDepot re-tightening — bottomed at 24.5% in 2020, now back up to 37%. Review carefully for borderline FHA profiles in high-OFI markets markets.