Article: Dipping mortgage rates, creative financing options gives glimmer of hope for aspiring home buyers
A WPDE ABC15 News article and broadcast piece by Michael Owen reports on financing options for those seeking to access homeownership in South Carolina, amidst a high rate mortgage market. USMI President Seth Appleton was quoted saying, “[i]n 2022, nearly 19,000 South Carolina households were able to access homeownership with less than 20 percent down payment because of private mortgage insurance. 52 percent of those borrowers in South Carolina were first-time home buyers, 35 percent of them had incomes below $35,000 and the average home price was about $306,000.”
The piece also notes that “[p]rivate mortgage insurance can allow you to get into a home with a smaller downpayment because it covers lenders in case you can’t make a payment, which makes it beneficial to both the buyer and the lender.”
Appleton added, “[w]ithout a 20 percent downpayment, there’s an increased risk of default, and private mortgage insurance is deploying private capital in the form of an insurance policy to protect against that loss.”
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