text: what is the average credit score needed to qualify for a home loan?   subprime starts at a 500 mid score.  the par rates that you see in the newspaper are for 80% or less loans with a 620 or better score without excessive debt or bad payment history.  for higher loan to value (ltv) loans the average is about 680 for the normal going rates.  your average credit score will have to match the program that you are applying for... but if you have a score about 675 without any mortgage or rental payment lates in the past 12-24 months, don't have excessive monthly payments on credit cards and car payments... you'll approve for just about all mortgage programs...