Q&A: A mortgage exec reflects on housing market's challenges

A mortgage exec reflects on housing market's challenges

Mortgage rates are near historic lows.

U.S. home ownership rates have sunk to a half-century low.

The Associated Press spoke with Rohit Gupta, chief executive of Genworth Mortgage Insurance, about today's housing market.

The yield is the interest paid on government debt.

Concerns about a global slowdown have caused more investors from around the world to put their money in Treasury notes, as has past government stimulus.

Even with the housing market recovering, there are still plenty of first-time homebuyers who can't afford 20 percent down.

Builders aren't building a lot of starter homes, in part because of the costs of regulation and land.