Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fiscal Year 2021 Annual Report to Congress on the
Financial Status of the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, p. 34.
Note: Figures show the number and dollar volume of single-family insurance-in-force as of the end of FY2021,
excluding FHA-insured reverse mortgages.
Market Share
Measuring Market Share
FHA’s share of the mortgage market is the amount of mortgages that are insured by FHA
compared to the total amount of mortgages originated or outstanding in a given time period (e.g.,
originated during a calendar year, or outstanding on a specific date). FHA’s market share can be
measured in a number of different ways. Therefore, when evaluating FHA’s market share, it is
important to recognize which of several different figures is being reported.
First, FHA’s share of the mortgage market can be computed as the number of FHA-insured
mortgages divided by the total number of mortgages, or as the dollar volume of FHA-insured
mortgages divided by the total dollar volume of mortgages.
Furthermore, FHA’s market share is sometimes reported as a share of all mortgages, and
sometimes only as a share of home purchase mortgages (as opposed to both mortgages made to
purchase a home and mortgages made to refinance an existing mortgage).
A market share figure can be reported as a share of all mortgages originated within a specific time
period, such as a given year, or as a share of all mortgages outstanding at a point in time,
regardless of when they were originated.
Finally, FHA’s market share is sometimes also reported as a share of the total number of
mortgages that have some kind of mortgage insurance (including mortgages with private
mortgage insurance and mortgages insured by another government agency) rather than as a share
of all mortgages regardless of whether or not they have mortgage insurance.
FHA’s Share of the Mortgage Market
FHA’s market share tends to fluctuate in response to economic conditions and other factors.
Between calendar years 1996 and 2002, FHA’s market share averaged about 14% of the home
purchase mortgage market and about 11% of the overall mortgage market (both home purchase
mortgages and refinance mortgages), as measured by number of mortgages. However, by 2005
FHA’s market share had fallen to less than 5% of home-purchase mortgages and about 3% of the
overall mortgage market as mortgage credit loosened. Subsequently, as economic conditions
worsened and mortgage credit tightened in response to housing market turmoil that began around
2007, FHA’s market share rose sharply, peaking at over 30% of home-purchase mortgages in
2009 and 2010, and over 20% of all mortgages (including both home purchases and refinances) in