Same Prices as a Decade Ago (or Longer) Even with the recent carnage, the stock market has more than doubled from its post-2008 Crash lows. Upper bracket housing? Not so much. At least in many choice Twin Cities neighborhoods, luxury homes can be had for the same prices they fetched a decade ago (or even...Read More
From Steep Premium to Discount In the wake of the 2008 Financial Crash, rates on jumbo mortgages (over $417k in most parts of the country) skyrocketed to 7% or even higher. Assuming you could find one. Fast forward to Fall 2015, when jumbo’s can now be had for as little as 3.75% — a slight discount to...Read More
Jumbo vs. Conforming Loans How do you get a $560k house for the cost of a $525k house? No, it has nothing to do with negotiation, bargain hunting, or otherwise outmaneuvering home sellers. Rather, it’s strictly a financing play. Namely, by moving up just a little in price, Buyers today can avail themselves of cheaper jumbo loans (over $417k),...Read More
Halloween Scream? Not This Year After almost touching 5%(!) barely a month ago, interest rates on a 30-year mortgage for well-qualified borrowers have dropped almost a full point, to just above 4%. Jumbo loan rates are even lower. Chalk that up to 3 reasons: 1) the debt ceiling has been raised, however temporarily; 2) the...Read More
Three Reasons Once upon a time — like in 2009, in the aftermath of The 2008 Crash — jumbo or “non-conforming” loans were significantly more expensive than conforming loans (under $417k in most parts of the country). When conforming loans were going for 5.5%, jumbo’s were fetching 6.25% or 6.5% — assuming you could find a...Read More
Market for Jumbo Loans Thaws (a Bit) The weakest part of the housing market right now is the upper end — specifically, homes in the upper six figures and above. Why? The soft economy, the stock market, 9.4% unemployment (make that 9.7% as of Fri.). However, arguably an even bigger factor is financing. Two Mortgage...Read More
