First time homebuyers will not be able to return to the real estate market until the process for obtaining a mortgage moderates and does not scare so many of them away.

That's according to Stuart Miller, CEO of Lennar Corp., a Miami-based home construction company, who told analysts on a Sept. 17 conference call about the firm's third quarter earnings. He said the firm is “very well-positioned” for what he characterized as the home building industry's “slow and shallow recovery” from the housing market crisis and Great Recession.

However, during a question and answer period, he said problems with the mortgage process were among the reasons first-time homebuyers were not coming back into the market in great numbers yet.

“It's still very difficult for that market to get reignited until we start to see a little bit more movement in terms of access to the mortgage market,” Miller said on the conference call.

He cited what he called the three barriers to the first-time homebuyer coming back into the market: the requirement of a down payment, very stiff underwriting on mortgage loans and the process of obtaining a mortgage.

“The process itself has become fairly invasive, at least in terms of how people see the process and feel the process,” Miller said, adding that whenever he speaks about this topic to a group of people, three or four in the audience always raise their hands and say, “yep, I know just what you mean by invasive.”

“The process seems almost to scare people away,” Miller said. “The barriers are a little bit steep right now.”

Still, he expressed optimism that the loan process would moderate over time and that the market for first-time home purchasing would pick up again.

Lennar builds both single and multifamily homes in 18 states around the country and posted earnings of $177.8 million in the third quarter, according to Miller.

Instant Insights /

&lsquo;Invasive&rsquo; Loan Process Stalls Housing Recovery

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