Freddie Mac Archives

April 1, 2024April 25, 2024

A “Silver Tide” of Boomers Will Pass Their Deeds Along — And It’s Rolling

Freddie Mac is planning for nine million baby boomers to let their homes go — gradually.

Freddie Mac’s recent analysis predicts just 300,000 boomer-owned homes will be released to the market this year. Larger numbers will follow, though, increasing year by year. Freddie Mac’s report shows the silver tide has begun to roll. Expect the baby boomers to convey deeds to more than 9 million homes between now and 2035, says Freddie.

January 12, 2024April 25, 2024

Buying a Home While Interest Rates Are Still High? The Case for “Yes”

For too many years, the U.S. housing market has been out of reach for too many people. But giving up might not be an option.

Those able to get a foothold in this market often do it to attain a viable financial future. A homeowner’s wealth goes up along with home values. So, owners accumulate home equity month by month. And property inflation helps them do it.

In this context, a recent NBC News segment featured financial advisers who urge people to become homeowners — in spite of the current high interest rates. From their perspective, not owning is unaffordable.

After all, the gap between the haves and have-nots of real estate widens with inflation. Fear of missing out, a.k.a. FOMO, is a totally reasonable response to this reality.

Or you can…

January 3, 2024April 25, 2024

What’s a “Scratch and Dent” Mortgage?

Last year, mortgage lending slowed to a crawl. So, the lending industry had some extra time on its hands. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac took advantage of some of that extra time to go over the loans they purchased in the sizzling hot market of 2020-21. During those frenzied months, underwriters were under pressure to close high volumes of loans.

When the dust settled, Fannie and Freddie found plenty of loans whose underwriters missed some things, perhaps not thoroughly checking the borrower’s documents. These errors could lead to flawed estimates of a borrower’s risk.

With nearly $10 trillion of loans issued in the hot market, the number with defects adds up to some $25 billion. Fannie and Freddie can’t hold these bags. Their legal standards rule them out. So they send these hot potatoes back to the lenders.

October 2, 2023April 25, 2024

Frustrated Home Buyer? It’s Not You. Affordability Is the Worst It’s Been in a Century

Given today’s incomes, mortgage interest rates, and the prices on homes, we just had the least affordable month for U.S. housing in our century.

September 2023 was the second record-breaking month this year. We might be headed for a third record before the year’s over.

In fact, the last time it was this hard to buy a home was back in the early 1980s.

September 13, 2023April 25, 2024

Arizona and Florida Buyers: Now There’s a 1% Down Payment Option

Interest on a 30-year mortgage has topped 7%, bringing rates up to levels not seen since 2002. And with the prices of homes as high as they are right now, it’s harder to buy a home today than at any time in the past 40 years.

Prices will stay high because of demand for homes — that owners aren’t selling. Owners don’t want to jump back into today’s market. No surprise there!

Meanwhile, those overwhelmed by rising rents find it hard to save enough for down payments. To draw potential buyers into a market like this, mortgage companies are creating incentives. Zillow Home Loans LLC, Rocket Mortgage®, and United Wholesale Mortgage are all advertising new, 1% down payment mortgages.