What is the FHA?

The Federal Housing Administration — better known as the FHA — has been part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development since 1965. But the FHA actually began more than 30 years before that, as a component of the New Deal. In addition to a stock market crash and the Dust Bowl drought, the Great Depression saw a housing market bubble burst. By early 1933, roughly half of American homeowners had defaulted on their mortgages.

The FHA was created as part of the National Housing Act of 1934 to stem the tide of foreclosures and help make homeownership more affordable. It established the 20% down payment as a new norm by insuring mortgages for up to 80% of a home's value — previously, homeowners had been limited to borrowing 50%-60%.

Today, the FHA insures loans for about 8 million single-family homes.