A new plan has been implemented that can save substantial costs for mortgage borrowers.

Federal Housing Administration borrowers may be able to lower their mortgage insurance premiums if they agree to undergo housing counseling, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors.

FHA announced the new program — Homeowners Armed With Knowledge — that would allow FHA borrowers who complete counseling before closing to receive a 0.5 percentage point reduction in their upfront insurance premium. They will also see an annual premium drop by 0.1 percentage points.

Borrowers may also qualify for more savings. Borrowers who take part in post-closing counseling and show a record of on-time payments for two years can receive an additional 0.15 percentage point reduction.

On an FHA loan with an average loan balance of $180,000, borrowers who go through counseling would be able to decrease their payments by nearly $325 a year in insurance costs — by $9,800 over the life of a 30-year loan, according to FHA.

In recent years, FHA has raised its premiums, a move that has been criticized for making their loans less affordable.

Q: Is the housing market really improving?

A: The market is finally showing signs of definite improvement. Inventory and prices continued to rise for the month of April, suggesting a healthier national housing market, according to the National Housing Trend Report released by Realtor.com.

The group cited trends from the previous year, which found "dramatic shortages" being replaced in 2014 by moderate home price gains in tandem with increasing inventories.

Q: Are luxury homes selling more rapidly than low-cost homes?

A: Apparently those luxury homes are the hot sellers in many markets. Luxury home sales, particularly sales of the priciest 1 percent of homes, are surging.

Sales of the most-expensive homes in many local markets are up 21.1 percent this year, after a 35.7 percent gain last year, the real estate brokerage Redfin reports in its 2014 Luxury Report.

On the other hand, sales in the other 99 percent of the market have dropped 7.6 percent this year, it was noted in a NAR report.

It's a scenario playing out throughout the country: The top 1 percent of the housing market is booming, while the rest of the market has been slowing in its recovery due to sluggish wage and job growth, according to the analysis.

In about 10 housing markets, luxury home sales have surged above 50 percent this year. For example, Oakland and San Jose, California, are on track to nearly double the number of home sales since last year in the most expensive 1 percent of the market, according to the report.

Q: Are changes in the works for reverse mortgages?

A: Changes are definitely being planned, and they have long been needed. As regulations reshape the reverse mortgage, lenders hope to end up with a safer, more-reputable product.

In the meantime, the changes are turning the economics of this business on its head.

Q: Do most major banks retain ownership of their mortgage loans?

A: Most banks sell their loans. However, there is a new trend emerging in that area.

JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo are retaining more high-quality, conforming mortgages than they would normally sell to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, raising concerns that the banks are adversely selecting the weakest loans for the government-sponsored enterprises, it was reported by National Mortgage News.

Q: Are home foreclosures declining?

A: Yes, foreclosures are down nationwide. The Data and Analytics division of Black Knight Financial Services released its First Look at mortgage loan data as of the end of April 2014.

The report found that the foreclosure rate is at its lowest point since 2008, and the number of seriously delinquent loans not in foreclosure is down over 200,000 since last year.

To find out more about Jim Woodard and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.