Are Mortgage Credit Conditions "Tight"?

Townhall.com ^ | May 24, 2014 | Mike Shedlock

[Kaslin]

A statement in regards to credit condition in a Bloomberg article this morning on New Home Sales caught my attention and merits further investigation.

[WashingtonSource]

Bump

[Gay State Conservative]

I've had three mortgages.With each application my earnings were verified with my employer,my assets were checked in various ways,my credit history was checked *and* I had to put a minimum of 20% down.

That was SOP until Attorney Corporal Reno declared that anyone with a pulse was entitled to a mortgage and any lender who denied an application from one of "the most vulnerable among us" would have the full weight of the United States Government dropped onto them.

[CommieCutter]

I thought it was Cumo?

[RKBA Democrat]

I guess conditions are tight if you’re no longer breathing, if you’ve defaulted on a mortgage in the last six months, or if you just filed for bankruptcy last week.

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Fun NH fact: the NH legislature is the largest in the US, representing roughly 1.3 million people. Legislators receive the princely salary of $100 per year for their service.

[Neidermeyer]

Not tight at all ,, we just have a population that has no money and has been burning through savings to keep up with all this (non)inflation we haven’t been having.

[RegulatorCountry]

They’re back to pre-bubble normal. If you have derogatory credit that is recent enough to show up in a FICO score, it’s tight. If you don’t, it’s not. There have been some fairly onerous income and asset reporting requirements intended to ferret out fraud in downpayment and income, that brokers and underwriters complain about. I suppose those are the source of the whining. Strip them out, go back to liar’s loans, NINJA loans, straw man buyers and all that. Happy days are here again among mortgage brokers who don’t hold the paper. You know the rest of the story, just go back six years.

[xzins]

When I checked yesterday, the 15 year fixed refi was 3.18 on Bloomberg. Last year’s 2.9 was the lowest in modern history back 50 years. Yesterday’s 3.18 is extremely low. The lowest in the last 50+ except for last year’s low.

House prices are low, interest is low. This is the time to buy a house. It is not possible for it to be significantly better. Fifteen year is so low that it’s about the only loan I’d recommend. What young couple wouldn’t want to be paid off at 45 instead of at 60 years of age?

And for the record, I’m neither a banker, a lender, a realtor, or anything other than a pastor.

[RegulatorCountry]

Pricing here has recovered almost to pre-bust levels, but we had no bubble to burst. Homes are selling, not quickly by the standards of some other parts of the country, but within historical norms. I’m prepping mine for sale right now. Seems like a great time to get out from under a mortgage without losing your backside, to me. Get into something more conducive to independent living and pay cash for it. Or, get mobile and go to where the opportunities lie. We’re not out of the woods yet, not by a long shot. Grab it while you can, is my perspective.

[xzins]

Same here. It depends on the neighborhood, but most everything is probably within plus or minus five percent.

Had a friend who needed to move a house and he took the 5% loss with the logic that it’s better to move it and lose a bit than to stay saddled with it and less mobile because of it.