Columbia SC housing is finally recovering as conditions have boosted affordability to an all-time high. At the same time, a new study shows that lenders’ unwillingness to loosen their qualifications may be slowing down the recovery.
The latest data from the annual Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies report shows that, in general, the Columbia SC housing market is in better shape than it has been in years, as employment continues to grow and home prices have rebounded — or at least stopped falling — over the past few months. Sales of existing homes have been on the rise for the last 10 months, and bottomed-out prices suggest a full recovery may come over the next few years or so.
Columbia SC Housing Loans
People are becoming more and more confident in their abilities to afford a home, but many mortgage lenders are keeping tight wraps on home financing.
Home prices are down some 35 percent nationwide, interest rates are below 4 percent and have been for some time, and at the same time, renting is becoming more expensive. But with loans harder to get, the reality of owning a home is becoming even more cloudy for some would-be home buyers.
Experts generally agree that this continued tight policy on lending is an overreaction to the downturn seen in the last few years, which led to millions of people becoming delinquent and later defaulting on their home loans, and it cost banks billions.
Many lenders are still requiring credit scores well above what would have been needed to qualify for a mortgage just a few years ago, and most also require larger down payments from those who would otherwise qualify, making it still difficult to afford Columbia SC housing.
If you’ve been watching mortgage rates plummet, and rents going up, and think now may be the time to look into the Columbia SC housing market, give us a call. We’ll be happy to sit down with you and discuss your options.
If you’d like a lower rate on your mortgage, HARP might be able to help.
Get more mortgage tips and information by choosing the “Mortgage Info” category to your right. If you have questions about a mortgage or qualifying for a mortgage, use the comment link to contact us.
Another cruel irony of the housing bust? While hundreds of thousands of mortgage borrowers have been able to squat in their homes without making a single mortgage payment in months or even years, many responsible homeowners who have good credit and consistently meet their monthly obligations haven’t been able to refinance in order to avoid losing their homes.
Many of today’s homeowners purchased their homes during a time of easy credit, when mortgage products, like interest-only loans and option adjustable-rate mortgages were issued to the marginally qualified. And many were told that — if they made their payments faithfully — they could easily refinance out of these products into affordable fixed-rate loans once the payments started to balloon.
But that day has never come for some borrowers — no matter how good their payment record or credit score.
Many lenders are refusing to refinance underwater mortgages — loans that are higher than the value of the home — because it would mean big losses for them if the borrower defaults.
According to data submitted to federal regulators and analyzed by the Wall Street Journal, nearly 27% of mortgage applicants were denied mortgages in 2010, up from 23.5% a year earlier.
The cruelest twist? Lenders typically wait until a homeowner is in default before they are willing to modify their mortgage.
For some homeowners, the clock is ticking. In 2011, $1 trillion in adjustable rate mortgages are scheduled to reset. And many are scrambling to refinance their mortgages while rates are still low — to no avail.
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif) has co-sponsored a bill, the “Helping Responsible Homeowners Act,” for borrowers who want to refinance but are in “negative equity,” owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.
Boxer’s legislation also requires banks to offer interest rates comparable to what they’re giving to borrowers who are not underwater. And it bans risk-based fees for mortgages issued by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac that can be as much as 2% of the loan principal.
Now, President Obama is pushing his revised HARP program. The mortgage non-sense just never seems to end. Stay tuned, we’ll keep you updated on these programs.
Great Benefits, Serious Risks – A loan secured by a homeowner’s “equity” can be an economical way of borrowing money because the interest rate is typically low and, for many people, the interest paid will be tax deductible. However, there’s a big risk…
Have questions about home equity loans not answered here? Use our comment link below to ask. We’ll get back to you with answers.
More homeowners prefer to pay off their mortgages sooner as interest rates have stayed near rock-bottom and weak labor conditions have caused them to reduce their debt loads.
According to a recent survey, the current trend in refinancing into shorter-loan terms is a stark contrast to the one during the height of the housing boom, when families were taking out bigger mortgages against the rising values of their homes.
Of those homeowners who refinanced a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage during the second quarter, 37 percent moved into a 15-year or 20-year fixed-rate loan. This is the highest since the third quarter of 2003.
In the second quarter, interest on the 30-year mortgage averaged 4.65 percent, compared with a 3.84 percent average on 15-year mortgages.
Refinancing has comprised the bulk of U.S. mortgage activity since the housing bust that led to the 2007-2009 global financial crisis.
During the second quarter, the refinance share of mortgage applications, versus the share of applications for loans to buy a home, averaged 70 percent, according to Freddie Mac.