Smart Borrower Blog

Archive for February, 2016

Delinquencies on Subprime Auto Loan Bonds Rise to 6-Year High

Subprime borrowers are falling behind on their car payments at unnervingly high rates, according to Bloomberg. Subprime auto loans that have been packaged into bonds and sold to investors saw their delinquency rate jump to 4.7 percent in January, the highest level since 2010 in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Those loan bundles have […]

Credit Card Delinquencies Hit 3-Year High

As more sub-prime consumers have gained access to credit cards in recent years, the percentage of borrowers falling behind on their payments has also jumped, according to data from credit reporting agency TransUnion. During the fourth quarter of 2015, the credit card delinquency rate (borrowers with payments late by 90 days or more) rose 6.9 […]

Low Rates Benefit Jumbo Loan Borrowers

The nation’s wealthier homeowners are taking the most advantage of the recent dramatic decline in mortgage interest rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA’s mortgage application volume index jumped 9.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted annual basis this week, with most of the increase due to refinance requests. The MBA refinance index soared […]

Decline in 2015 Small Business Borrowing Could Spell Slower GDP

U.S. small businesses pulled back on borrowing in December compared with the previous year, according to data from PayNet, a sign that entrepreneurs are feeling less confident about the strength of the economy. The Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index fell to 132.4 in December, up from November’s 127.3 but down from 134.1 in December […]