While the U.S. economy has been getting beaten up by the coronavirus, mortgage rates have been on a stunning plunge. Rates on 30-year fixed-rate home loans hit new lows 16 times in 2020 and earlier this month were averaging a record 2.65%, says mortgage giant Freddie Mac.
But only top-shelf borrowers are offered the very lowest rates. And, partly because lenders have gotten much pickier during the COVID crisis, the average credit score to get a mortgage has risen to its highest level in at least two decades, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Wanting to take out a home loan — to buy a house or refinance an existing mortgage? Find out how to make sure your credit score is where it needs to be.
What’s the typical credit score for a mortgage these days?
The New York Fed reports that the typical score for mortgage borrowers jumped to 786 during the third quarter (July through September) of 2020.
To give you some context, the U.S. average FICO credit score during 2020 was 710, according to the credit bureau Experian. It usually takes a score of 700 or higher to be taken seriously by a mortgage lender. (Don’t know your credit score? You can easily check it for free.) Read more of the article
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