Credit Score Requirements Stifling Borrowers
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Despite record-low interest rates, an increasing number of Americans can’t afford to buy a house.Â
The nation’s two largest mortgage lenders, Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp., have raised the minimum required credit score on FHA-insured loans to 640 from 620. Â
Requiring a 640 credit score excludes about 15 percent of FHA borrowers, FHA commissioner David Stevens said.
Such a high limit will further delay a recovery in the real estate market, says Ron Phipps, president of the National Association of REALTORS®.