There are different flavors of recession. You can get into some pretty dark scenarios pretty quickly.

Potential home buyers have a two-step decision process. First, they determine whether they can afford to make a purchase - does their income safely cover their mortgage payment? Then they determine whether owning is a better financial choice than renting - are the costs of owning a home lower than the cost of renting it?

There are different flavors of recession. You can get into some pretty dark scenarios pretty quickly.

My policy is I will help any policymaker who asks, whether they be a Republican or a Democrat.

The FHA's success provides strong evidence that government can and should play a role in the nation's mortgage finance system. It also demonstrates that although government intervention in the economy during the Great Recession was messy, things would have been a lot messier without it.

Lenders look at potential borrowers from many angles before extending credit: How much of its income will a household need to put into debt repayment? How large is the down payment? Does the borrower have a job with a stable income? What is the borrower's credit score?

Predicting recessions is indeed a dark art, but I think we are several years away from the next one.