Federal lawmakers recently voted to keep the maximum size of loans guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA for high-cost areas at their current levels ($729,750 and $625,000). President Obama finally signed the legislation, thereby extending the loan limit through 2011.
The provision means homebuyers and homeowners in expensive housing markets like California, New York, Alaska and Hawaii will continue to get a break on interest rates when they purchase or refinance. Conforming loans come with cheaper interest rates versus non-conforming or so called “jumbo” mortgages, because they are backed by the government lending entities.
While most areas will remain at the $417,000 maximum loan amount, it will continue to make a huge difference in the various high cost areas that exist around the country.
Continue Reading High Cost Area Loan Limits Extended Through 2011
Tags: FHA, Interest Rates, legislature, mortgages
The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that monitors government fiscal policy, once again has Florida ranked as the nation’s fifth best tax climate for business going into 2011. While some states move up and others down, Florida has remained very steady for six years in a row.
Gulf Coast Associates, Realtors
Fair Isaac and Company (FICO) announced the release of a new credit scoring product called the FICO 8 Mortgage Score. It was specifically designed to help lenders make better credit decisions in predicting mortgage performance risk and is now available from all three major U.S. credit reporting agencies – Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
The Tax Foundation has created a state by state comparison of property taxes using 2009 U.S. Census data. The review utilized three criteria: median property tax paid, property tax as percentage of a home’s worth, and property tax as a percentage of median income. In all three comparisons, Florida ranked right in the middle. New Jersey came in at No. 1 and Louisiana finished at No. 50.
