National Mortgage News staffer Brian Collins reports that banks and other lenders appear to be waiting on a regulatory signal from the Federal Housing Finance Agency before approving loans for borrowers with less than stellar credit profiles.
Cue the FHFA: Banks Wait to Loan

BRENDAN HOFFMAN
Representative Melvin Watt, a Democrat from North Carolina, questions Donald Kohn, vice chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, at a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, July 9, 2009. Kohn said any "substantial erosion" of the central bank's independence in setting interest rates may fuel investor fears of inflation and provoke higher long-term borrowing costs. Photographer: Brendan Hoffman/Bloomberg News