The ability-to-repay and qualified mortgage (QM) rules that went into effect earlier this year are not having a significant impact on approvals of prime conforming residential mortgage loans, but they are impacting the jumbo and nontraditional loan markets, according to the July 2014 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices conducted by the Federal Reserve.
Read More »Fed Survey: Prime Loan Standards Mostly Unmoved
A newly released survey of senior loan officers around the country finds credit standards remained largely the same on basic prime mortgage products over the latest quarter, while demand came in weaker. On the topic of subprime loans: On net, the handful of banks offering such products reported tightening, though more than half still said standards changed little.
Read More »Loan Officer Survey Shows ‘Moderate’ Easing in Credit Standards
On net, a "moderate fraction" of banks polled in the Fed's Senior Loan Officer Survey reported easing standards on prime residential mortgages from August to October, with a net 8.8 percent saying credit standards have "eased somewhat." Among large banks, a net 26.5 percent reported somewhat looser standards. Meanwhile, however, demand has declined for both prime and nontraditional mortgages as mortgage rates bounce upward. Among all respondents, a net 7.2 percent reported moderately or substantially weaker demand.
Read More »July Existing-Home Sales Highest Since November 2009
Existing-home sales soared 6.5 percent in July to an annual sales rate of 5.39 million--the highest level since November 2009--as the price of a single-family home slipped 0.2 percent.
Read More »Mortgage Credit Availability Increases in July
Mortgage credit availability opened up some more in July, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI).
Read More »Loan Officers Report Rising Demand for Non-Traditional Loans
According to the Federal Reserve's latest quarterly Senior Loan Officers Opinion Survey, a net 3.1 percent of lenders responding said demand for "non-traditional" residential loans increased from the survey released three months ago and a net 25 percent of respondents said demand for loans from sub-prime borrowers was higher than it was in May. At the same time, a net 6.3 percent of lenders said they had eased lending terms and standards for non-traditional mortgage loans.
Read More »Commentary: We’re Forever Seeing Bubbles
An increase in prices itself does not signal a bubble. An unsustainable increase, not supported by other data, however, would.
Read More »Commentary: Housing Recovery? Hold the Champagne
The last time both prices and sales of new homes increased in the same month was last September. What of course is missing from the two data sets is any indication of demand.
Read More »Capital Economics Looks at Loosening Mortgage Conditions
In a recent "US Housing Market Update," Capital Economics points to Federal Reserve's latest Senior Loan Officer Survey (SLOS), which showed a net balance of 8 percent of banks loosening mortgage credit conditions in the three months to April. While that may seem a small share, Capital Economics notes conditions have now either loosened or held constant in eight of the past nine quarters. In addition, a net balance of 27 percent of banks intend to increase their residential mortgage assets over the next year.
Read More »Mortgage Credit Eases in Q2 as Demand Increases
The percentage of banks reporting stronger demand for mortgage loans rose in the second quarter, the Federal Reserve reported, with more banks easing lending standards.
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