Tag Archives: First-Time Homebuyers

First-time buyer mortgages with a government guarantee were at a much higher risk of default than those taken out by repeat buyers. What factors are behind the disparity?

The federal government's policies have been largely focused on traditional homeownership. But has it been effective?

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will convene next week for the last time this year and is expected to sweep the industry with a change to the federal funds rate, something that has not been done since June 2006. ...

Most renters are putting about 30 percent of their monthly income toward their rental payment, which makes saving for a 10 or 20 percent down payment difficult. This conflict forces first-time buyers and millennials to pursue other options when looking to purchase a home, such as help from family or friends.

Also according to AEI's July report, 71 percent of Agency purchase loans had down payments of 5 percent or less, and 25 percent of them had DTI ratios greater than the QM limit of 43 percent. The median FICO score for first-time buyers was 709, a bit below the median for all individuals in the United States.

Total existing-home sales rose 2.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.59 million in July from a downwardly-revised 5.48 million in June.

Recent research by Washington, D.C.-based think tank American Action Forum (AAF) showed that as of the end of May, the share of FHA endorsements for both minority borrowers and first-time homebuyers was unchanged from a year earlier–33 percent for minority borrowers and 83 percent for first-time buyers.

While millennials so far have yet to find their place in the housing market, the stage is set for younger Americans to become the driving force in the residential sector in 2015, according to a forecast from Zillow.

As the share of first-time homebuyers hovers at its lowest level in nearly three decades, real estate professionals remain optimistic that homeownership is due for a comeback.

Speaking at the 56th annual meeting of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) on Monday, U.S. Department of Treasury Deputy Secretary Sarah Bloom Raskin said she does not see the nation's growing problem of student loan debt leading to an economic meltdown – and student loan debt may not be affecting a borrower's ability to buy a home, depending on that borrower's financial situation.