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REALTORS® have reported that credit conditions remain generally tight, with significant loan processing delays: August 2015 REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey. One indicator of credit tightness is the distribution of FICO scores on approved loans.
About 53 percent of REALTORS® providing transaction credit score information reported FICO credit scores in the range of 740+. For comparison, in the period 1999-2004, only 37 percent of Fannie Mae’s and 33 percent of Freddie Mac’s 30-year, fixed rate, fully amortizing loans had FICO scores greater than 750.16
Among first-time home buyers, 32 percent of buyers were reported to have FICO scores of 740 or higher. Among buyers age 34 years and under, 37 percent had FICO scores of 700 or over. Borrowers with FICO scores of 740+ put in a higher down payment while the majority of borrowers with FICO scores of less than 740 availed of “low” down payment loans (zero to six percent). For example, 73 percent of borrowers with FICO scores of below 620 made a down payment of zero to six percent.
16 Source: Urban Institute Housing Finance Policy Center, “Housing Finance at a Glance”, May 2015 chartbook. http://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/alfresco/publication-pdfs/2000231-Housing-Finance-At-A-Glance-Monthly-Chartbook-May-2015.pdf
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