WCBS 880 Special Series On Housing: The State Of Mortgages In 2011
SHELTON, CT (WCBS 880) - Illiad Estrada at Connecticut Home Mortgage says lower credit scores mean higher rates.
"What used to be perfect credit at 680 is now 740," she says.
But there, are in her words, programs out there for all buyers and while some of the largest deals are now demanding 50 percent down, she says, "We still can do 3.5 percent with FHA and 10 percent with conventional mortgages because private mortgage insurance has eased up a bit. I even have some banks that will allow five percent down."
With mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae bound for oblivion, many new players have come out out on to the field. Estrada works with portfolio investors and credit unions, among others, who've moved into mortgages.
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The financial reforms of the Sen. Christopher Dodd - Rep. Barney Frank legislation are settling in across the lending industry.
"Every mortgage bank and mortgage banker are putting together their own reforms thinking that this what the government wants," says Estrada.
She says they include a new federal consumer credit agency.
Jonathan Miller and Miller Samuel Appraisals says lenders can help struggling sales and prices.
"And I'm suggesting easing it to where it was during the boom because that's where why we're having the problems we're having now," he says.
What he says was a credit bubble and not a housing bubble, should get the blame for a housing market that will struggle for another three to five years.
