People in many varying degrees of relationships buy homes together, and Orion’s brokers tell us that using multiple incomes has become arguably more important in recent years. The math is not hard. Brokers know that the “average” person has a student loan, or a car loan, or credit card debt, or all three. Throw in interest rates around 7 percent as we enter July, homeowner’s insurance of possibly thousands of dollars, utilities, property taxes, utilities, maintenance, mortgage insurance… you get the picture. But Orion’s AE's can help you help your client.

Home affordability has deteriorated for several months in a row due to all of those reasons, not the least of which is mortgage rates, sidelining many prospective buyers from entering the housing market. That said, Orion offers several loan programs other than a “vanilla” 30-year fixed rate, including15-year and intermediate adjustable-rate programs that are fixed for 3, 5, or 7 years and then adjust.

Even the Fed noted it in its latest Beige Book, saying that “tight credit standards and high interest rates continued to constrain lending growth.Housing demand rose modestly, and single-family construction increased, though there were reports of rising rates impacting sales activity.” The MBA’s national Purchase Applications Payment Index (PAPI) has been increasing, and in fact for the first four months of 2024 the index rose 9.3 percent with affordability impacted by high rate levels and lack of inventory, which is contributing to high home prices.

Assigning numbers to what most brokers know already, the national median monthly payment applied for by applicants increased 6.8 percent year-over-year compared to a 4.6 percent year-over-year gain in median earnings, noted the MBA. The national median FHA payment was $1,955, up 3.0 percent month-over-month and 11.7 percent year-over-year, while the national median conventional payment rose to $2,271, up 2.2 percent month-over-month and up 4.7 percent year-over-year.

With all of this in mind, as mentioned above, Orion has some very good programs that can help with improving your client’s ability to afford a home.It is certainly worth a discussion with one of our AE's as we enter the summer months.

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