• Home builders need buyers who can get mortgages, and very tight credit standards have not been helping that process in recent years.
• Part of the reason is that banks have gone above and beyond what the Federal Housing Finance Agency requires for loans, fearing that if a loan goes bad, the bank will get stuck taking it back regardless of whether it met FHFA criteria at the outset.
• The agency, which governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, says it will make changes in its rules next year that it believes will lessen the chances of banks being forced to take back new failed loans. The changes do not apply to past loans, however.

From the article:

In a move aimed at making it easier for consumers to get mortgages, the federal regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said Monday the mortgage giants would address a big controversy of the housing bust: who gets stuck with bad loans. ...