CB
>>> dhenwood at panix.com 07/05/00 11:58AM >>>
[from an article in today's Wall Street Journal on rising household &
business debt in the U.S.]
While home buyers once needed a 20% down payment -- and thus needed a degree of financial well-being -- today over 40% of new-home mortgages are with down payments of less than 10%, according to SMR Research, a financial-research firm. "At least a quarter of all new mortgages go to people who are basically broke, and the figure could be much higher," says Stuart Feldstein, president of SMR.