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| If Builders Are Building, It's Got To Be A Good Sign Posted: 19 Aug 2009 08:00 AM PDT  Single-family Housing Starts rose for the 4th straight month in July, another sign that the battered housing market may be making its comeback. "Housing starts" are new homes on which construction has recently started. Not surprising, in a related story, homebuilder confidence moved to a 12-month high. Ironically, an increase in newly-built homes could actually slow a nationwide housing rebound because values are driven by supply and demand. More in-the-pipeline supply means that buyer demand has to stay strong or else prices will eventually fall. So far this year, though, demand has kept pace. Over the past 6 months, the combination of low mortgage rates, aggressive home valuations, and federal and state tax credits has kept buyer activity up and home values on the rise.  |
| Is Mortgage Underwriting Getting More Friendly? Posted: 18 Aug 2009 08:00 AM PDT
In its quarterly survey to member banks, the Federal Reserve asked senior bank loan officers whether "prime" residential mortgage guidelines had tightened in the last 3 months. Just one-fifth of banks said guidelines tightened last quarter, a dramatically lower figure versus last quarter -- a signal that mortgage underwriting may get less restrictive in the months ahead. It is worth noting, however, that not a single responding bank said its guidelines had eased. For now, getting through underwriting is still much tougher than it was 2 years ago. Some of the changes today's borrowers face include:
Furthermore, second mortgages are scarce when loan-to-values exceed 80 percent. The underwriting changes of the last 24 months preclude many Americans from getting access to today's low rates if the Fed's reported trend continues, that could reverse before the end of the year. Some analysts claim that credit tightening started the U.S. recession. Credit loosening, therefore, could help end it.  |
It looks like banks are less scared of mortgage loans these days.| You are subscribed to email updates from Atlanta Real Estate -- Peter Bright, Mortgage Blogger To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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