Lest you think the government is the housing savior we've been waiting for, take a gander at this. The Federal Housing Administration has let people do cash-out mortgage refinancing when they have had as little as 5 percent equity in their homes.

In one of those better-late-than-never moves, the FHA will now require 15 percent equity for cash-out refinancing. The FHA is a slow learner. Where was the agency when home prices dipped 35 percent the past three years? How many of the cash-out deals they approved since 2006 are now upside-down foreclosure cases? Anyway, here's the announcement: 

According to a letter that went out to lenders this week, the Federal Housing Administration plans to make it tougher for borrowers to secure a cash-out refinance mortgage.

Until now, the FHA has approved cash-out refinances for homeowners who have at least 5% equity in their properties and a record of on-time payments for at least one year.

However, beginning April 1, this type of refinancing will be restricted to borrowers with at least 15% equity in their homes.

“FHA is the predominant source of mortgage financing available to homeowners and home buyers today.” said Jeannie O’Grady, state director with the Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers and Mortgage Broker with Creative Mortgage Lenders in St. Petersburg.

Even though the mortgage markets are under a constant change, home buyers can still purchase a home with little to no money down. The loan just has to “make sense,” and of course the borrowers must qualify. Even though FHA has no minimum credit score requirement, lenders typically want to see a minimum credit score of 620 in order to qualify for home financing.