Smart Borrower Blog

Archive for June, 2012

Congress Reaches Tentative Deal on Student Loans

After months of worrying whether the interest rate will double on their college loans, undergraduate students can breathe a little easier today. The 3.4 percent interest rate currently available on federally subsidized student loans that was set to increase to 6.8 percent on July 1 will now remain at the lower rate for the next […]

Low Rates May Not Be Enough For Mortgage Market

How affordable are U.S. mortgages these days? For many months now, analysts have been saying that the combination of rock-bottom interest rates and low home prices have created a climate of extreme affordability for home buyers. In the latest report on existing-home sales, the National Association of Realtors beamed about evidences of a housing recovery. […]

Survey: Recession Changed Consumer Credit Card Decisions

The Great Recession led many U.S. consumers to shun credit cards and reduce their debt, according to a new survey from the Federal Reserve. The Fed’s 2010 Survey of Consumer Finances found that between 2007 and 2010 the number of families carrying credit card balances fell as did the median amount of credit card debt […]

Subprime Auto Loans Garnering Investors Again

Amid many flailing parts of the economy, the U.S. car loan industry is flourishing, a fact that has helped to once again open up the lending spigots for borrowers with less-than-perfect credit. A new report from Experian Automotive, a division of the Experian credit bureau, says that auto loans to nonprime, subprime, and deep-subprime buyers […]