Chart 47 Mortgage Lenders Have Eased Their Lending Standards

Loan Product Description
Interest-only mortgages Allow borrowers to pay interest and no principal in the loans early years and help to keep monthly payments low.
Option adjustable-rate mortgages Loans that have introductory rates as low as 1% and provide borrowers with several payment options. However, borrowers that select the minimum option could see a rise in their loan balance.
Piggyback loans A combination of a mortgage and home-equity loan or line of credit and allows borrowers the option to finance more than 80% of the home's value without paying for private mortgage insurance.
No-documentation and low-documentation loans Loans that require little, if any, documentation of borrowers income or assets.

Source: Wall Street Journal and CIBC World Markets.