Down payments

Now is not the time for the government to cut Federal Housing Administration premiums and enter new segments of the housing market.

In light of the Federal Housing Administration's strong financial performance, now is not the time to "reduce the FHA's footprint," but rather to broaden the critical access to credit role it plays.

Private mortgage insurance now has almost matched the government's Federal Housing Administration program in market share, having gained approximately eight percentage points in the past five years, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods found.

It was long believed down payment assistant programs were recipes for poor loan performance and future delinquencies, but that's not the case, according to a new report.

Faced with higher property prices and piles of student debt, Americans are getting older and older before they buy a home.

Gentrification and rapid home price growth have intensified the loss of wealth the African-American community experienced post-crisis, widening the chasm between what white and black borrowers can afford, Redfin found.

Home prices have more than recovered since the recession, but higher-than-ever medical and student debt is robbing many homeowners from realizing the benefits, while keeping others away from the market, according to Zillow.

With the ongoing issue of the affordable housing crisis, the Mortgage Bankers Association got behind the Build More Housing Near Transit Act, a bipartisan bill introduced in the House of Representatives.

The use of state housing finance agency down payment assistance programs is part of the solution to address the growing affordable housing gap, a Fitch Ratings report said.

While millennials took advantage of mortgage rates falling to two-year lows, increasing their refinance share, teaching them about low down payment loan products would help grow homeownership for this group, according to Ellie Mae.