…a study by mortgage data firm Ellie Mae of new loans closed in June found that credit scores for approved mortgages remain extraordinarily high. Fannie and Freddie’s refinancings had an average FICO score of 767 and average equity percentages of 29 percent. Home purchase loans had average down payments of 21 percent and 763 FICOs. Even the conventional home purchase loan applications that lenders rejected had high credit scores and down payments by historical standards: 738 average FICOs and 19 percent down payments. FHA, which used to average somewhere in the mid-600s for FICO scores on approvals, appears to be continuing to cherry-pick applicants as well, based on the Ellie Mae survey data.
What does all this mean? If there’s a loosening of underwriting standards coming down the road, there are scant hints of it at the moment.
For a conventional loan, it appears the OP’s current FICO score of 750 is still too low to qualify or right on the edge. And I agree with flu here who suggested that sd gal hold back some cash for a rainy day … not to allocate her entire $110K savings as a downpayment but perhaps put 20-30% down. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to check CU’s and “portfolio lenders,” though (if there are still any in existence).
