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Buy now, before you get priced out forever!

From: http://www.cnbc.com/id/102248838

Potential homebuyers who don't have a lot of cash to put down now have a cheaper way to get a loan.

Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced guidelines Monday for loans with down payments as low as 3 percent under a new program largely aimed at first-time homebuyers.

"These underwriting guidelines provide a responsible approach to improving access to credit while ensuring safe and sound lending practices," said Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt in a release.

The loan must be fixed rate, and the home must be a borrower's primary residence, so this would not apply to investors, according to FHFA officials on a conference call with reporters Monday morning. At Fannie Mae, at least one of the borrowers on the loan must be a first-time homebuyer, defined as not having owned a home in the past three years. Freddie Mac is allowing the low down payment loan for any borrower who meets its underwriting standards.

#housing