The government had been issued extreemly low interest rates over the past ten years or so. The fed was lending so cheaply that it forgot to realize that some people actually wouldn’t be able to pay back their mortgages.  So homes started to go late on their mortgage payments. Suddenly the banks are not making the money they once did. This is a problem.  Banks stopped lending all together and made super tight guidelines. 

The flip side is that mortgage rates are at an all time low now to encourage lending again. If you can get a loan I suggest you lock in whatever mortgage rate you can. They are only going to go up from here.