Dennis' Mortgage Blog

The stimulus bill signed by President Obama last week apparently had one item within it that is good news for the mortgage and real estate markets:  conforming loan limits will be raised back to their 2008 levels.  That means in Los Angeles and Orange Counties the limit will go back to $729,750 for single family residences, other counties in Southern California will be lower.  To check a county click here for the spreadsheet.

You may recall that last February when Congress passed the temporary loan limit changes that raised conforming loan limits from $417,000 to $729,750 it took until almost April before we could fund the higher balance mortgages.  This time around the loan limits are not official from Fannie Mae until March 4^th, then we need to wait until we see the pricing overlays that may be involved.  Because of this lenders are not taking applications or allowing loans over the current $625,500 level to be locked in; once they get the overlay costs from secondary marketing they can provide pricing on the loans and we can begin taking applications and locking loans.

While this is an announcement of hurry up and wait I wanted to let you know that in the very near future we will once again have affordable 30 year fixed rate financing for higher end properties.  I hope, and I am sure you do as well, this will loosen up the higher end properties in the region a little bit and see some activity in the $1 million range of homes.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.