Austin-based 360 Mortgage Group announced it will accept Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac 97% loan-to-value products.

360 Mortgage brokers can now market the new program to their customers — increasing sales and freeing up potential clients that perhaps couldn’t afford to purchase a home before the change.

Both government-sponsored enterprises officially announced their individual 97% loan-to-value products on Dec. 8.

These announcements followed reports in October from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt, announcing a number of policy steps aimed at increasing mortgage credit availability at the Mortgage Bankers Association Convention & Expo in Las Vegas.

Fannie’s My Community Mortgage product with a 3% down payment is available through its desktop underwriting tool. 

Meanwhile, Freddie announced its Home Possible Advantage program, an affordable conforming, conventional mortgage with a 3% down payment to help more first-time homebuyers and other qualified borrowers jump into the market.

Since the announcement, several lenders have come out and said this is definitely a product they would offer, but haven't made anything official.

Most of the support for the new products is coming from nonbank and smaller lenders like AMCAP Mortgage, which is based in Houston, whose CEO and Director, Garrett Clayton, told HousingWire that this is definitely a product it would offer. 

“Our philosophy is that we are a sell organization, and if that is a product that the agencies are going to put out there, we will have to offer that to our loan originator base,” Clayton said. “From the mortgage side, why would anyone say this is not a positive?”