Mortgage lenders are starting to accept lower credit scores and smaller down payments.
– Average FICO scores and down payments drop for home loans
– Lenders compete harder for new business as interest rates rise
– No big changes likely for lending standards, which some say are still too tight
More people are getting home loans with lower credit scores and smaller down payments.
Last month, the average FICO score for a closed home loan was 732, down from 750 a year ago, shows data from mortgage tracker Ellie Mae.
The average down payment was 19%, vs. 22% a year ago. What’s more, almost one-third of closed loans had FICO scores under 700, vs. 17% a year ago. The top FICO score is 850.
Read the full report here.
