Smart Borrower Blog

Archive for the ‘Mortgages’ Category

FHA Cracks Down on Riskier Loans

After noticing worrisome trends in its loan portfolio, the Federal Housing Administration is tightening requirements on its mortgage loans. Starting with loans assigned a case number as of March 18, the FHA will start flagging high-risk loan applications and put them through a manual underwriting process. The rest of its applications will continue to be […]

Mortgage Credit Availability Rises in February

Lenders made mortgage credit slightly easier to obtain in February, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, being led by a loosening of jumbo loan standards. The MBA’s Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) inched to 180.1, up 0.6% from January. Increases in the index indicate loosening of mortgage standards while decreases signal tighter underwriting. The MCAI […]

Mortgage Delinquency Rate Falls to 18-Year Low

U.S. mortgage borrowers kept up with their payments so well in the 2018 fourth quarter that the national mortgage delinquency rate fell to an 18-year low, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The seasonally adjusted delinquency rate on mortgages for one-to-four unit residential properties decreased to 4.06% of all home loans, down from 4.47% in […]

Household Debt Tops Pre-Recession High

Americans owed $13.54 trillion in household debt as of the 2018 fourth quarter, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a 0.2% increase from the third quarter and the 18th straight quarterly gain. Total household debt has surpassed even the pre-recession peak of $12.68 trillion and is 21% higher than the […]

Mortgage Applications Fall Despite Interest Rate Drop

Mortgage application volume fell for the third consecutive week, even as interest rates took a dive, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA’s seasonally adjusted index saw mortgage application requests fall by 2.5% in the latest week and almost 10% from the previous year. Most of that decrease came from a 5% drop in […]

Credit Card and Mortgage Delinquencies Rise in Latest Quarter

While still well below historical averages, several categories of consumer credit delinquencies rose in the 2018 third quarter, including credit cards and home equity loans. According to data from the American Bankers Association, delinquencies increased in six of the 11 categories tracked in the ABA Consumer Credit Delinquency Bulletin. The composite ratio – a measure […]

Falling Interest Rates Spur Mortgage Application Rebound

The number of U.S. mortgage applications soared in the latest week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, a result of a sharp drop in long-term interest rates. The MBA’s Market Composite Index – a measure of mortgage application volume – rose 23.5% on an unadjusted basis during the week ended Jan. 4, 2019. “Mortgage rates […]

Home Price Appreciation Stalls for Third Month

While home prices continue to rise compared with last year, they are slowing in their gains, according to the latest Case-Shiller Home Price Index produced by S&P Dow Jones Indices and CoreLogic, a result of mortgage rates and home prices outpacing growth and income. U.S. home prices rose 5.5% in October over the previous year, […]

Mortgage Loan Limits Raised for 2019

In response to the rise in home prices this year, the Federal Housing Finance Agency is increasing loan limits on conforming mortgage loans for 2019. The new maximum conforming loan limit will be $484,350, a 6.9% jump from 2018’s limit of $453,100. The increase roughly matches the rate of home price inflation – according to […]

Mortgage Foreclosures and Delinquencies Fall in Latest Year

Mortgage borrowers did better at keeping up with their loan payments in the past year, according to new data from CoreLogic. They did so much better, in fact, that the rate of 30-day delinquencies dropped to its lowest level in almost 13 years. CoreLogic’s Loan Performance Insights report found that the percentage of home mortgage […]