Attom Data Solutions reports that small mortgages are becoming scarcer for low- and middle-income homebuyers. The real estate firm estimates that lenders offered about 106,000 mortgages with balances between $10,000 and $70,000 last year, a 38 percent decline from 2009, with originations falling 26 percent for mortgages priced between $70,000 and $150,000. By comparison, lenders underwrote 65 percent more higher-priced mortgages. “The whole system incentivizes high[-balance] loans,” says Structured Finance Industry Group President Michael Bright. Experts attribute the decline to lenders’ difficulty in profiting from smaller loans, given that they usually extend mortgages at fixed costs.
Small Mortgages Are Getting Harder to Come By
