The Down Payment Report

November/December 2021

Download the full issue. (released December 20, 2021)

• Commentary: Creating first-generation homeownership.
• Down Payment Interview: Dr. Jessica Lautz, Vice President of Demographics and Behavioral Insights for the National Association of REALTORS®, discusses what 2022 looks like for first-time homebuyers.
• Congress is close to creating the most ambitious federal down payment assistance program in history, and the first exclusively for first-generation and first-time buyers.
• Potential single women homebuyers are falling victim to economic woes generated by the pandemic.
• A rise in rental applications makes it seem as if many first-time buyers are giving up on their dream of homeownership.
• High home prices encourage a boom in co-buying.
• FHFA and FHA loan limits will rise 18 percent in 2022.
• Legislation has been introduced to restore the PMI deduction.
• DPA program news and updates from across the country.
• Down payment and purchase loan data.

September/October 2021

Download the full issue. (released November 4, 2021)

• Commentary: Housing Finance Agencies weathered the storm and came out better than before.
• Down Payment Interview: Officials for three of the largest state Housing Finance Agencies discuss how they adapted to the unexpected demand brought on by the pandemic.
• Infrastructure bill to provide financial assistance grants to first-generation homebuyers.
• Affordability continues to plummet for some millennials, low-income households, and minority groups.
• Many first-time buyers can’t afford homeownership in most major US metro areas.
• Housing economists weigh in on market conditions.
• A coalition of 40 national housing organizations seeks changes in “Duty to Serve” plans.
• Fannie Mae updates DU to increase access to credit.
• Working to close the minority homeownership gap – a recent study revealed appraisal values are more likely to fall below the contracted sales price in census tracts with a higher share of Black and Latino households.
• DPA program news and updates from across the country.
• Down payment and purchase loan data.

July/August 2021

Download the full issue. (released August 26, 2021)

• Commentary: Ginnie Mae’s risk-based capital rule would punish first-time buyers.
• Down Payment Interview: Washington State Housing Finance Commission Homeownership Director, Lisa DeBrock, discusses the importance of educating sellers and agents about FHA loans in hot markets.
• FHA and VA market shares are shrinking, according to a recent National Association of Realtors membership survey.
• Decreased supply of starter homes is crippling inventory for first-time buyers.
• Support is growing in Congress for down payment assistance programs.
• Rent vs. Buy in 2021 — homeownership is still one of the best wealth generators.
• A new use for credit card reward points — down payment and closing cost assistance.
• Pandemic increases starter home sizes as consumer preferences shift.
• New down payment program offers up to 5 percent of the home’s purchase price in Maui, HI.
• Down payment and purchase loan data.

May/June 2021

Download the full issue. (released June 24, 2021)

• Commentary: Low down payments and the pandemic.
• Down Payment Assistance Legislation: An excerpt from An Essential Role for Down Payment Assistance in Closing America’s Racial Homeownership and Wealth Gaps by Michael Stegman and Mike Loftin.
• Down payment assistance could potentially convert five million “first-generation” families―who rent and whose parents never owned homes― into homeowners.
• First-time buyers stick with low down payments during bidding wars.
• Latinos have increased their homeownership rate for six consecutive years. Nearly one in three Latinos is currently in the prime homebuying years of 25 to 44.
• Homeowners pay a smaller percentage of their incomes than renters because, over time, rent will increase while the only costs of homeownership that increases are property taxes and insurance.
• The undervaluation of Black homes resulting from redlining costs the average Black homeowner $46,000.
• Down payment assistance news across America, including recently launched programs.
• Down payment and purchase loan data.

March/April 2021

Download the full issue. (released April 8, 2021)

• Commentary: Homeownership Education Saves Mortgages.
• Down Payment Interview: Housing & Education Alliance Executive Director, Sylvia Alvarez,
  discusses the importance of homeownership education not only for new buyers, but for loan officers and real estate agents as well.
• Down payment assistance news across America, including recently launched programs.
• The latest in down payment legislation.
• Millennials: Are happy days ending for young buyers?
• Highlights from NAR’s 2021 Snapshot of Race and Home Buying in America.
• More than 20 percent of young households will be Hispanic by 2040.
• First-Time Homebuyers: First American has rated affordability on a renter’s house-buying power.
• Down payment and purchase loan data.

January/February 2021

Download the full issue. (released February 4, 2021)

• Commentary: Why 2020 was a year to remember.
• Down Payment Interview: National Council of State Housing Agencies Executive Director, Stockton Williams,
  discusses how agencies have weathered the pandemic and what’s in store for 2021.
• Millennials’ house-buying power will drive sales to new heights.
• The importance of low down payments will increase, rising prices and higher rates are bad news for first-time buyers.
• Limits on FHA loans rise 7.4 percent and 8.9 percent, and DACA homebuyers are now eligible for FHA loans.
• Is pandemic stimulus money encouraging larger down payments?
• Urban Institute: Within 20 years, Black homeownership will decline dramatically.
• Conforming loan limits increased in 2021.
• Down payment and purchase loan data.

September/October 2020

Download the full issue. (released October 9, 2020)

• Commentary: Don’t raid IRAs for down payments.
• Down Payment Interview: NAREB’s National Executive Director, Antoine Thompson,
  discusses the American Dream Down Payment Act and whether or not the legislation will move the needle for homeownership.
• Down payment options blunt the impact of rising prices.
• The bill that allows tax-free IRA withdrawals for down payments.
• The three provisions of the Biden-Harris plan: permanent tax credit, DPA for public workers, and expanded CDBG funding.
• Millennials: Homeownership rates rise most for younger owners.
• FHA updates, including delinquency rates and the extended foreclosure moratorium.
• Down Payment Resource releases its Third Quarter 2020 Homeownership Program Index (HPI).
• Structural barriers limit home equity for African Americans and Hispanics.
• Down payment and purchase loan data.

June/July 2020

Download the full issue. (released June 30, 2020)

• Commentary: Low down payments and home price stability.
• Down Payment Interview: Stockton Williams, Executive Director
  of the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA),
  shares his views on the impact of COVID-19 on state housing finance agencies.
• How young buyers are driving pandemic demand — first-timers dominated April sales.
• Many lenders are raising standards and lowering LTVs.
• Lost savings are putting Millennials’ dreams on hold.
• The ten toughest markets to recoup savings, including the years of saving needed for an additional ten percent down payment.
• Hispanic homeownership is on the rise, but more is needed.
• Down payment and purchase loan data.

April 2020

Download the full issue. (released April 22, 2020)

• Commentary: Pandemic impacts entry level buyers
• Down Payment Interview: Rebecca Steele, President and CEO of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, shares her views on surviving the COVID-19 crisis.
• COVID-19 crisis hits young workers hardest.
• The crisis is forcing first-time buyers to tap down payment savings.
• New CFPB study describes how first-time buyers have changed over the past 20 years.
• Chase lowers its LTV to 80 percent and other lenders tighten standards.
• Down payment assistance trends and COVID-19 impact.
• Fannie and Freddie allow desktop appraisals and urge due diligence on income verification and employment.

March 2020

Download the full issue. (released March 19, 2020)

• Commentary: COVID-19 and Homeownership
• Down Payment Interview: Examining the solution to the white-black homeownership gap with Freddie Mac Senior Economist Jaya Dey.
• What a zero percent interest rate may mean for first-time homebuyers
• Surprises in generational trends and median down payments
• Scorecard on Millennials and debt
• New down payment assistance programs across the nation
• Updated 2020 and 2021 housing forecasts

January 2020

Download the full issue. (Released January 23, 2020)

• Looking back and looking ahead: 2019 housing news highlights and a 2020 housing forecast round up.
• Down Payment Interview: Affordable housing expert Tonya Todd on how HFA innovation and flexibility are helping moderate-income buyers.
• FHFA seeks to reduce low down payment loans in GSE portfolios.
• Awareness of low down payment programs improves.
• Nearly one out of three Millennial buyers plan to augment their savings with down payment assistance.
• One-quarter of Millennial planning to buy this year have saved less than $1K.
• Experts predict Gen Z will raise homeownership rate.
• Freddie Mac launches new online homebuyer education program.