Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said in June: "It is difficult for any homeowner who doesn't have pristine credit these days to get a mortgage. I think that is one of the factors that is causing the housing recovery to be slow."
The chart below shows that the rate of growth of mortgage applications in the US, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, has been pretty much stagnant over the recent weeks (shown in the red circle).
Chart courtesy: http://www.tradingeconomics.com
Yellen also laid the scant progress in the housing sector at the door of interest rates that rose last year.
Banks wary
In July, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) chief Jamie...
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