With the economy still entrenched in a long recovery from the effects of COVID-19, lenders continued to tighten their standards, resulting in the tightest mortgage credit availability in six years, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The MBA’s Mortgage Credit Availability (MCAI) Index fell 4.7% to a reading of 120.9 in August — its […]
Skipping Mortgage Payments?
As the ranks of the unemployed have swelled, homeowners have signed up for mortgage forbearance programs that let borrowers delay payments or make partial payments while they wait for their financial situation to improve. But there’s been mass confusion over how borrowers will pay back what they owe. And the fear of a looming lump-sum […]
Freddie Mac’s Single-Close Mortgage Covers Renovations
Freddie Mac announced its CHOICERenovation loan offering last week, providing homebuyers the opportunity to purchase a home and finance the cost of renovations with a single-close mortgage. The CHOICERenovation mortgage is designed to help address the nation’s aging housing supply, support the need for affordable housing, and offer renovation, repair, improvement or refinance options to support the […]
Borrowers Eager to Lock in Rates
Mortgage rates have been up and down in recent weeks, so when borrowers saw little fluctuation last week, they jumped at a chance to lock in a rate. Home refinancers, in particular, took advantage. Total mortgage application volume rose 5.1% last week on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to the previous week. The gain was […]
More Buyers Putting Less Down
A 20% down payment is no longer the norm. In the past year, 1.5 million borrowers purchased their homes with down payments of less than 10%, according to Black Knight Financial Services. That marks a seven-year high. A growing number of home shoppers are financing more than 90% of their home purchase. “The increase is […]