It was back to business for the federal government Thursday, as government offices reopened following a 16-day shutdown over a federal budget and debt ceiling impasse among lawmakers. 

But for the mortgage and real estate industry, there may be a few clogs in the pipeline from the two-week shutdown.

The National Association of REALTORS® warned Thursday about “residual delays in programs as workers address issues caused by the 16-day lapse.” NAR will continue to publish the latest shutdown information on its Web site for members over the next several days as the government returns to fall capacity.

Federal Housing Administration and Department of Housing and Urban Development employees returned to work Thursday but face a “significant backlog in high-risk loans as well as reverse mortgages for seniors,” HousingWire reports. About 5 percent of FHA loans require manual underwriting by staff members.

Seniors also may see longer waits for approvals or closing on reverse mortgages since the shutdown temporarily halted the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program.

Nevertheless, housing experts say they don’t expect the government shutdown to have a long-term impact. 

Source: NAR and “Back to Work: Housing Agencies Grapple with Mortgage Backlog,” HousingWire (Oct. 17, 2013)