Dive Brief:

• Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro said Wednesday too many creditworthy buyers are being squeezed out of homeownership by overly strict credit requirements.

• "The dream of homeownership is out of reach for too many Americans, and all of us at HUD are determined to change this," Castro promised in a speech at a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute conference.

• He suggested that consumers with credit scores between 580 and 680 should be able to qualify for mortgages. The average score of buyers who have qualified for mortgages sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is 750.

Dive Insight:

Castro also promised to address the “affordable housing crisis," created in part by recent sharp increases in big-city rental prices.  "These are the kinds of issues I'll be fighting for during my time as secretary," he said.