New guidelines that took effect in early December clarify the credit approval threshold for Fannie and Freddie at 620, erasing some of the uncertainty on the part of lenders, who may have been reluctant to approve loans to people with subprime scores. However, high FICO scores still matter. In January, only 30 percent of closed loans had a FICO score below 700, a drop from 32 percent in January 2014. Borrowers who were denied loans had an average FICO score of 681.

Mortgage rates have remained consistently low throughout the first weeks of 2015. The national average has gone up to 3.75 for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for people with credit ratings between 740 and 850 with at least 20 percent down, according to Zillow Mortgages. Rates had fallen has low as 3.548 percent in the closing days of January. In Texas, rates stand at around 3.75 percent for a 30-year fixed rate. They had fallen as low as 3.541 percent in January.

Ed Kampf of Georgetown Mortgage sees problems persisting for some potential homebuyers due to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

“The foundation of our country is the small business owner,” Kampf said. “Small business owners do not generally show similar qualifying income as w-2 employees. There are limits to borrower ratios. A retired school teacher might not be able to refinance saving hundreds of dollars per month because new regulations (Dodd/Frank) capped debt-to-income ratios”

The low rates are great if homebuyers are willing to take the plunge. However, many potential homebuyers may feel that they don’t have enough saved afford a down payment. The larger down payment requirements, strict credit score limits and a daunting mountain of paperwork that have been put in place since the 2007 housing crash have kept many people out of the market.