Job Market Continues to Improve, but Where are the Borrowers?

It's good news for the nation (and a certain president in particular) that the U.S. economy added 243,000 jobs in January. (Of course, when the numbers get revised next month…) And I'm sure the president's GOP revivals have already tried to deflate the job gains, noting that the decline in unemployment to 8.3% is tied to so many people leaving the workforce. As I've noted in this column several times in the past: Retiring Baby Boomers leaving the workforce may be the only thing really helping jobseekers. Any true economic recovery (for it to last) needs housing to improve. Ask any mortgage loan officer or Realtor what the biggest stumbling to home ownership might be and chances are you'll hear one of three things (or all): ultra tight underwriting standards, lack of a downpayment/high closing costs, and overcautious appraisers not “bringing it in” for the borrower. I'm a firm believer in downpayments, but what really is appropriate? Five-percent? Three? The higher the loan amount the more it will cost. But the best way to boost housing is to get more people back to work. Then again, millions of consumers have had their credit history destroyed during the Great Recession. One problem is that a short sale goes down on a consumer's credit report as being akin to a foreclosure (or so I've been told.)  Anyway, the improving job picture is good news, but the devil, as always, is in the details.