Friday, March 21, 2008

FHA loan of 729,750 with 3% down-now is a great opportunity to invest

Article from CNN Money:

Previously, Fannie and Freddie could only insure mortgages of up to $417,000, called conforming loans. That meant, assuming a 20% down payment, that only buyers of homes costing $521,500 or less were eligible for mortgages with GSE backing.
The new loan limits for Fannie and Freddie vary by area based on local median home prices and go as high as $793,750 in Honolulu. Loan limits for FHA-insured loans were even lower; no more than $362,790. Now mortgages of up to $729,750 will qualify for FHA insurance.
The problem was that there are whole swaths of the nation where the typical home cost far more than that, and non-conforming or "jumbo loans" carry interest rates of about a point higher. For a $500,000 mortgage, that's an additional spending of $330 a month.
In many parts of the country prices are much higher. In San Jose, Calif, the median priced home costs nearly $850,000, according to the latest figures from the National Association of Realtors. In San Francisco, the figure is nearly $780,000; in Anaheim, Calif.; $657,000; in Honolulu $625,000; and in the New York metro area, $525,000. That means more than half the loans in those markets would not qualify under conforming loan limits.
By making it easier for buyers to get loans, regulators hope to get these markets moving again.
The new loan limits affect 71 metropolitan areas, as well as 21 counties outside of those metro areas.

New loan limits for Fannie and Freddie
State
Metro Area - County
Limit 1-Unit
AZ
Flagstaff (Metropolitan Area)Component County: Coconino
$450,000
CA
Bishop (Micropolitan Area)Component County: Inyo
$437,500
CA
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana (Metropolitan Area)Component Counties: Los Angeles, Orange
$729,750
CA
Madera (Metropolitan Area)Component County: Madera