Have Mortgage Funds Really Dried Up?

In the midst of financial turmoil, Bob Krum writes [h/t to Glenn Reynolds],

I went to Lending Tree to see what kind of mortgage terms I could get to buy my first home today. . . .

So what kind of offer did I get today in the midst of this horrible financial crisis? I got four offers, the lowest of which was a 15-year fixed-rate VA mortgage of 6.0%, zero points and zero down, yielding a monthly payment of $948.20. Yes, that’s right, as bad as everyone says the economy is today, I can get the same mortgage as I had twelve years ago for about $250 a month less than I was paying 12 years ago in the midst of a “great” economy.

Four offers doesn't sound like a lending crunch, at least not yet. Of course it is a VA mortgage.....

Update: Don Boudreaux wonders about the overall seizing up of credit; his 11-year-old son just received an offer of an American Express card!

Comments

[Taggert J. Brooks]

the liquidity problems appear to be very segmented. I understand a lot of the deposit outflows from the national banks are ending up in small community banks looking to lend.