The answer is important, because the housing inventory won't shrink until more people are able to qualify for loans. Here are 3 reasons for optimism.
By SmartMoney
After more than two years of misery in the housing market, the worst may finally be over.A handful of recent developments in the mortgage market all point to an easing of lending standards, which have been onerously high since 2008.
Private lenders and the federal government have reinvigorated the jumbo mortgage market, making bigger loans more available to more borrowers. And in general, a would-be homeowner can now qualify for a loan with lower credit scores and make a smaller down payment -- in some cases, as low as 5%. Those moves, taken together, mean that more borrowers have access to mortgages, a necessary precondition for housing to rebound.
