Lending Landscape - November 15, 2007

The lending landscape has remained unchanged this week with mortgage rates for 30 year fixed loans coming in even with last week and last year. However, downward pressure on bond yields this week should push long term rates down for next week.

The government-sponsored loan buyer said the rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan remained at 6.24 percent for the week ended Nov. 15.

The 30-year rate has not been lower since the week ending May 17, 2007, when it averaged 6.21 percent, Freddie Mac said.

At this time last year, 30-year mortgage rates also averaged 6.24 percent.

Perhaps the bigger question brewing for new home buyers is if they can get a loan at all. As it stands, a downpayment is the biggest change in the lending landscape over the past four months. For borrowers with poor credit, a 10% downpayment is pretty much required, unless its possible to qualify for an FHA loan where a 3% downpayment is required. Borrowers with good to excellent credit can obtain financing for 5% down and there are still 0 down programs available.

So long as a new home buyer can document their income and can come up with a downpayment, obtaining a mortgage is not that difficult.