Genworth [1], a Fortune 500 insurance holding company, recently polled 200 mortgage professionals to gauge their opinions of the market place—including what they feel is holding back first-time homebuyers.
The poll revealed that 46 percent of mortgage professionals believe that having a sufficient down payment is holding back this demographic, while another 35 percent cited affordability. Round out the poll were those who listed student debt (14 percent) and ability to qualify for a mortgage (5 percent).
“Despite their emergence as today’s fastest-growing homebuying demographic, first-time homebuyers still face many headwinds. While some of these, such as shortages in affordable inventory, are environment-driven, others can be addressed via improved awareness on the various low-down-payment solutions available in today’s market,” said Rohit Gupta, President and CEO, Genworth Mortgage Insurance. “Ensuring that the right tools from both a product and educational standpoint are in place is imperative to supporting the continued positive trajectory for these buyers.”
Despite these market challenges, the majority of professionals polled still expect to see growth in the first time homebuyer market in 2018 with 54 percent reporting that they expect this demo to grow at a faster pace than the rest of the market.
In its poll, Genworth also asked respondents about LTV products and qualified mortgage. They found that the industry expects demand for 97 LTV products to strengthen in 2018; high LTV, low-FICO loans expected to surge in demand; and non-QM loan growth expected to remain stable or increase in 2018.
To read the full findings, click here [2].