MARKET UPDATE
Two great pieces of news came out this week.
1) Conforming Jumbo loans are now available on 2 unit properties. Depending on the median home prices in your local market, a buyer could be eligible for up to $934,200 at a great rate (this is up from the $533,850 for conventional conforming 2 unit loans). Awesome!
2) Owning and renting have now become comparable in cost in many hard hit areas of California like Vallejo, Fairfield, and Sacramento. This has brought out lots of first time home buyers and investors who can do the math and see what deals are available when this phenomenon occurs in California. This is further indication that we may be at or near the bottom of the current downturn in some markets. (Even some newspapers are starting to get this.)
“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”
– Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin (1802)
What a week in the mortgage market! Fears of inflation hammered long term rates. Fed board members are out fanning the fears of inflation. Oil and gas prices are at record highs.
So naturally, rates on 15 and 30 year fixed rate mortgages have started to rise. In fact, they jumped ½% or more this week alone. It was one of the worst weeks for mortgage rates in the past 20 years. Ouch!
But don’t despair. There are options. Some have moved to 5 year ARMs in order to hold the line on rates. Others are considering Temporary Buydowns. And you know what? 30 year fixed rates on conforming and conforming jumbo loans are still in the mid sixes. Not bad from a historical perspective.
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