Especially in today’s real estate market where many mortgage lenders are requiring borrowers to put 20% down, saving for an adequate downpayment may be unattainable for many. The findings from a recent National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) survey agrees:

The NFCC recently asked consumers about their ability to meet the down-payment requirements associated with buying a home in today’s market. Of the more than 2,000 respondents, almost half (49 percent) admitted that they’d never be able to save enough money for a down-payment on a home.  This is discouraging news for the housing market in general, lenders, potential buyers, as well as existing homeowners.

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Are you looking for a mortgage rate even lower than five percent, but not interested in an adjustable rate mortgage? Have you considered a 15-year fixed-rate loan? Like the 30-year conforming rate, 15-year rates are at historic lows:

The move to shorter-term loans comes as rates on these mortgages have dropped to near historical lows. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate conforming mortgages averaged 4.46% last week, according to HSH Associates in Pompton Plains, N.J., well below their recent high of 5.25% in mid-June. Rates on 30-year fixed-rate conforming loans averaged 4.99%, or about half a percentage point higher.

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Lew Sichelman wrote an excellent piece for the trade publication National Mortgage News citing a fresh study which explored the likelihood that an underwater borrower would walk away from their home, even if they could afford to make payments.

The article noted that “fewer than one in 1,000″ borrowers would mail in the keys with just a 10% deficit, only 5% would walk away with a gap of 10% to 20% and only 17% would go voluntarily without selling if they were 50% underwater. Lew’s take is that ’strategic defaults’ are “well-reported, if not well documented.” We agree; the number of homeowners defaulting by choice is probably quite small relative to the problem as a whole.

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Lew Sichelman wrote an excellent piece for the trade publication National Mortgage News citing a fresh study which explored the likelihood that an underwater borrower would walk away from their home, even if they could afford to make payments.

The article noted that “fewer than one in 1,000″ borrowers would mail in the keys with just a 10% deficit, only 5% would walk away with a gap of 10% to 20% and only 17% would go voluntarily without selling if they were 50% underwater. Lew’s take is that ’strategic defaults’ are “well-reported, if not well documented.” We agree; the number of homeowners defaulting by choice is probably quite small relative to the problem as a whole.

Read the rest of this entry »