Tag Archives: First-Time Buyer Mortgage Risk Index

A study has found that rising mortgage risk for first-time homebuyers helped them to overcome rising prices. What were the main drivers of this trend?

Home prices and risk are being driven up quicker than income by low mortgage rates, an improving labor market, and loose credit standards, but some believe this is not a sustainable approach to homeownership. The American Enterprise Institute's First-Time Buyer Mortgage Share Index found that first-time buyers accounted for 56.4 percent of primary owner-occupied home purchase mortgages with a government guarantee in September 2015, up from last years' total of 54.4 percent.

The first-time buyer share in April, May, and June was launched to new highs, supported by improvements in the labor market, riskier mortgage lending, and continuing low mortgage rates. The American Enterprise Institute International Center on Housing Risk recently released a report, finding that first-time buyers account for 58.8 percent of primary owner-occupied home purchase mortgages with a government guarantee. In addition, AEI determined that the Agency First-Time Buyer Mortgage Risk Index stood at a series record of 15.83 percent

The April 2015 First-Time Buyer Mortgage Risk Index (FBMRI) for Agency loans increased by nearly a full percentage point year-over-year up to 15.28 percent, indicating that those mortgage loans are moving deeper into the high-risk category, according to data released this week by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI)'s International Center on Housing Risk.