Down payments

Freddie Mac is expanding its Home Possible loan program to allow borrowers in rural locations to use "sweat equity" for down payments and closing expenses.

Wells Fargo & Co. raised its required down payment for homebuyers in Connecticut's Fairfield County to 25% from the standard 20% after it categorized the area as distressed.

The Federal Housing Administration's life-of-loan premium discourages borrowers from refinancing into another FHA mortgage, damaging the stability of the insurance fund.

Eighty percent of millennials said they plan on moving within the next five years, while nearly three-quarters claim affordability as their biggest hurdle in the buying a home.

The amount of mortgage credit available to consumers increased to a post-crisis high in October in reaction to more first-time homebuyers entering the market, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

A deal between TD Bank and a Vermont nonprofit is just one example of how banks are getting creative in addressing affordable housing needs while reaping financial and regulatory benefits.

While the average down payment percentage of purchase price stayed mostly flat, the average dollar amount dropped 10% from the previous quarter, according to LendingTree.

With home values nearly doubling income growth in the last 20 years, it's now taking homebuyers 7.2 years to put together a down payment, according to Zillow.

Despite mortgage rates at a seven-year high and rising home prices and low inventory that are keeping consumers from buying homes, rental prices are declining in many markets.

Providing borrowers with an incentive to create financial reserves after closing is a better tool to prevent mortgage loan defaults than measures taken at underwriting, a JPMorgan Chase Institute study declared.