According to the Long Island Newsday, upcoming mortgage rules that go into effect Jan. 1, 2014, prohibit banks from approving mortgages for anyone whose debt-to income ratio is higher than 43%. Additionally, banks will limit the fees for originating mortgages to no more than 3% of the loan amount.

Don Frommeyer, president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, said the 3 percent rule also will be a problem for mortgage brokers.

He said brokers will have a harder time collecting their fee on homes priced below $160,000 because every cost to the customer in the homebuying process goes toward the 3 percent. For a mortgage of $100,000, for example, all origination fees — including the mortgage broker fee — would be limited to a total of $3,000.