For those borrowers using conventional mortgages who don’t have at least 20% down payment “and” at least a 760 FICO credit score, they will be expected to pay a minimum of 2% of the loan amount in fees. In some cases, credit scores are too low, more than 2% in fees will be charged.
These fees are passed onto the borrower in the form of higher interest rates. The higher fees, designed to make Fannie and Freddie less vulnerable to losses, are expected to raise interest rates about 0.4 of a percentage point on the average.
Source: WSJ, 12-18-2013, A3.