Real estate may be showing signs of a turnaround in many local markets but the nation’s largest mortgage players continue to ratchet up their underwriting rules, making home purchases more difficult for some buyers.
Mortgage giant Fannie Mae, for example, issued a laundry list of tougher policies June 8 that could directly affect thousands of buyers in the coming months, especially those involved in job-related transfers.
Reversing a long-standing policy, Fannie no longer will permit mortgage applicants to count the income of so-called “trailing spouses” toward the household income needed to qualify for a loan. A trailing spouse is one who joins his or her spouse or partner in a job-related move, but who has yet to obtain employment in the new location
Read more: Boston real estate mortgage requirements
