I received an interesting newsletter from a real estate agent partner the other day. It was Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance's Housing Trends Update and it contained a graph depicting how buyer's paid for their homes (nationally) over the past 12 months; cash, FHA, or Conventional Conforming loans (Fannie/Freddie).
Cash Buyers:
Feb 2010 -- 27.5%
Feb 2011 -- 33.7%
FHA Loans:
Feb 2010 -- 33.3%
Feb 2011 -- 27.8%
Fannie/Freddie Loans:
Feb 2010 -- 14.2%
Feb 2011 -- 13.6%
The article makes a couple points. One, there are more investors in the market paying cash for distressed properties. And two, mortgage financing is becoming increasingly difficult.
In my last blog post I discussed how FHA was increasing fees in an effort to promote a more balanced mortgage market. However, Fannie and Freddie also continue to raise fees and tighten lending restrictions hindering any market share increases in Conventional/Conforming lending and doing little to improve the real estate market.
If you are a real estate agent and would like more information about the article you can go to www.campbellsurveys.com.
