The Score VantageScore

Whether you’re a renter or a homeowner, you likely have already had to contend with some of the challenges of the current housing market. While buyers and current homeowners faced persistently high mortgage rates and low housing supply in recent years, renters also faced steep cost increases in many markets. Will 2024 be more of the same?
Selma Hepp is the Chief Economist for CoreLogic, America’s largest provider of advanced property and ownership information, analytics and data-enabled services. Selma joins The SCORE this week to provide her perspectives on the residential housing market, trends we can anticipate in 2024, and what prospective homeowners can expect in the future as they get closer to achieving the American dream.

Listen to Selma’s insights here.

Originations across many product types – mortgage, credit cards, and the like -- were all lower in 2023 than the year prior. Historically high interest rates pinched consumers and made it less appealing to open new lines of credit. 
Will 2024 be more of the same? What can consumers and lenders alike expect in the coming year? Is the economy’s elusive ‘soft landing’ anywhere in sight?

Kelsey Zhu, Lead Analyst at Bernstein/Autonomous, joins The SCORE this week. Kelsey to talk us through where we are in the consumer credit cycle and why she’s optimistic about what both consumers and lenders have to look forward to in 2024. 

Listen to Kelsey’s insights here.

Spending is up! Delinquencies are up? And oh, it's an election year!  
With the resumption of student loan payments, persistent inflation, and other potential challenges, what can consumers expect in 2024? To be sure, all eyes will be on the economic health of consumers. 

This week, Susan Fahy joins THE SCORE Podcast to discuss what CreditGauge reveals about Americans’ current credit health. Susan is VantageScore’s EVP and Chief Digital Officer. In addition to spearheading the monthly CreditGauge analysis, Susan also helps keep lenders informed through leading-edge digital tools such as Inclusion360, RiskRatio, and MarketGain.  
Listen to Susan’s insights here. 

Recent news headlines indicate that consumers shopped big this past holiday season, and retail numbers, on the surface, appeared to be up. But given notable economic pressures like record-high inflation, how much of that was just paying ‘more’ for ‘less’? And how can consumers make sure they’re getting the best possible deal when using credit? 
 This week’s guest on The SCORE is Matt Schulz, Chief Credit Analyst at Lending Tree, America’s largest marketplace for loans. Matt joins The SCORE to explain common mistakes consumers make when rate shopping as well as reasons why he thinks “people have more power over their money than they realize.” He also explores how the rise of buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) services will continue to transform consumer finance, why credit usage reflects consumer sentiment, and how credit card lenders will continue to compete in the new lending marketplace. 

Listen to the episode here.  

In 2023, consumers balanced various financial challenges: the lingering effects of record inflation, rising credit card balances, and student loan payment resumption, among others, leaving many to explore financial products that help make changing personal budgets more manageable. In the same year, credit unions stepped in to fill gaps created by larger financial institutions and provide additional options for consumers currently excluded from the lending marketplace. 
 This week on The SCORE, we’re joined by Yazel Pardo, Vice President of Credit Risk at Patelco Credit Union. Patelco is a full-service, not-for-profit financial cooperative with 450,000 members nationwide. Yazel joins The SCORE this week to tell us how he expects consumers to manage the various headwinds expected in 2024, how industry consolidation among credit unions affects the consumer, and where new opportunities for increasing financial inclusion currently lie.  

Listen in as Yazel explains how alternative data helps make credit accessible to local communities and furthers financial inclusion. 

As many outlets are currently reporting, in many parts of the United States, renting is now far cheaper than buying property. Various economic factors like interest rate hikes and rising costs have created a housing system in which many Americans are renting. But does being excluded from homeownership preclude renters from using those payments to build and improve credit scores?

This week on The SCORE, we’re joined by Kristian Lund from Self Financial. Self is a credit-building platform working to increase economic inclusion and financial resilience through products that make building credit accessible. Kristian joins The SCORE this week to explain the advantages of including alternative data in credit scoring models, such as rental payments, and how it helps people create positive payment history and, in turn, strong credit scores.  

Listen in as Kristian walks through how consumers can use positive financial history to build credit and move towards financial inclusion.