mortgages

The federal government shutdown will affect the housing market in several ways, The Washington Post reports:

1. Buyers won't be able to get approvals for their mortgages, including those backed by the Federal Housing Administration;

2. Lenders will be less willing to make loans or even unable to make loans without paperwork from the IRS, FHA and the Social Security Administration.

"The approval of mortgage applications requires several interactions with the federal government that many home buyers may not know about. Lenders have become much more meticulous about following federal rules after the housing crisis that began in 2007, and are now more thorough in verifying the information on loan applications. These concerns were far less common when the government last shut down in 1995," The Washington Post also reports.