If the National Association of Realtors asks the following question:
Then why did Progressive Insurance start offering “first time buyer’s assistance” to buy a new home? Last time I checked, Progressive wasn’t a bank or a real estate agency, but then again, maybe I’m still jaded from the Great Financial Crisis(GFC).
If the real estate market is booming as the talking heads repeatedly say, then why are zero down loans back in fashion?
From May 27, 2026 via The Mortgage Report:
How To Buy a House With No Money Down | $0 Down Loans
One would think that after the GFC, the dangers of issuing ARMs (Adjustable Rate Mortrgages) to subprime borrowing candidates would have been recognized by American financial institutions. Hell, after Bank of America swallowed up Countrywide Financial, one would think the taste of garbage would have been enough for that institution. But never one to miss out on profits now that they are part of the elite TBTF Club (Too Big Too Fail), they knew the taxpayers would always have their backs and the largest investors accounts protected.
So if housing is so strong, why are America’s financial institutions recreating one of the instruments of America’s 2006-2012 housing crisis?
From the Bank of America webpage:
If the housing market is so strong, why are builders offering absolutely absurd incentives like Lennar is in one of the former superstar hot markets like the Tampa area? Better yet, why are they offering ARM’s and so desperate to sell homes like car salesmen during their “July 4th Sale” if things are so good?
Since the phrase “subprime” is now verboten on the current pump and dump financial media, one has to ask as to when all of the housing delinquencies, jingle mail, and of course lack of concrete government bailouts going to finally hit the MBS and its derivative markets in a serious manner?
CNBC provided a hing just over four months ago:
Weirdly enough the chart below speaks to as what the next question is and why things are maybe not quite what they seem.
Maybe having the new Director of National Intelligence who sucked at housing in charge of housing and intelligence (a true Pulte oxymoron), isn’t such a hot idea after all.
Why didn’t this story from National Mortgage Professional get more coverage back in March? Obviously all is not well if the underlying mortgage performance is starting to deteriorate in this “booming” golden age economy:
Non-QM Delinquencies Rise, Newer Vintages Show Deterioration
Excerpt from the March article:
Fitch Ratings’ latest “U.S. RMBS Performance Monitor,” released with February 2026 remittance data, indicates a continued rise in 30-day and 90-day delinquencies across nearly all private-label U.S. Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) 2.0 sectors.
The Non-Qualified Mortgage (Non-QM)/Non-Prime sector shows elevated delinquency rates compared to historical averages, a trend mortgage professionals must monitor.
The 30-day delinquency rate for Non-QM/Non-Prime 2.0 loans stands at 7.26%, an increase of 118 basis points year-over-year, according to Fitch Ratings. This compares to a 1.09% 30-day delinquency rate for Prime 2.0 loans, which rose 22 basis points year-over-year. Fitch attributes this data to a sector-wide performance shift, particularly for newer loan vintages.
The emphasis in the last sentence is this author’s and for good reason. If we’re living in the “golden age” then why are newer vintages deteriorating so dramatically?
I know these questions bore the hell out of most of my readers, but hearing all this boom time silliness ignores the reality of the lower and middle class economic caste.
Just like America, the financial media, and government did in 2007.
