The Department of Veterans Affairs recently announced that the number of loans it guaranteed reached a record high in 2013.
The VA guaranteed almost 630,000 mortgage loans in 2013 according to Mike Frueh, the director of the VA’s Loan Guaranty Program.
An overall tight lending environment is making VA loans more attractive to current and past service members.
VA loans do not require a downpayment. Roughly 90 percent of all VA loans for home purchases are made with no money. These loans do not require private mortgage insurance to be purchased, as with most other high loan to value mortgages.
States that have seen the largest increase in VA loans within the past year are Arizona (up 40 percent in 2013 over 2012), Ohio (30 percent) and Connecticut (30 percent).
Sources: The New York Times and REALTOR®Mag
