ShareThe December 2011 Realtors Confidence Index survey reports that first time buyers are significantly below the expected 40 percent of the market. According to comments received from Realtors® this is due in many cases to unrealistic and overly stringent credit requirements by lenders who have still not recovered from the Great Recession. Buyers need to know that many financial institutions still are providing mortgages on a reasonable basis—including credit unions, community banks, and smaller regional banks. Being turned down by a major national lender simply means that the buyer needs to turn to a different source—possibly the smaller financial institutions.
