FNMA 30 Year Fixed: 5.25%
FNMA 15 Year Fixed: 4.375%
USDA / FHA / VA: 5.375%
Hello Friends,
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
I want to start the New Year with a look into the coming months….what will happen and the trends we are going to see with mortgages and rates.
As of today, new government regulations are in place that will control good faith estimates and our ability to changes fees and costs. I won’t go into great detail…..most of the emphasis is on my end…..but these new rules will place more accountability on mortgage companies and banks to property disclose costs accurately up front. This won’t be an issue.
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA & VA loan programs continue to tighten. The condo situation in Florida continues to get worse from a lending standpoint. As of now, any condo project that has ONE unit offered as rental will be classified as a “Condotel” and not eligible for financing by any of these groups. We do have products for condotels and will use these programs for our condo customers. Minimum credit scores for FHA & VA have increased to 620 from 580. These types of adjustments will continue and I’ll keep you posted.
You may have seen a slight increase in rates over the past month. A few things are causing this. The Fed is slowing the rate at which it is buying back mortgages from the market. They have worked through nearly all of the $1.25 Trillion allocated and have announced this program will stop at the end of March. The tax credits to first time and existing home owners will play out between April and June. With the end of these government sponsored events, bonds and rates will return to a more “market” position and less influenced by stimulus dollars. Winter has officially arrived and oil prices will rise.
My expectation is that rates will slowly rise from the sub 5% that we enjoyed a few weeks ago to around 6.0%. While this is still very reasonable, it will seem high based on where we’ve been.
Thanks for all your support and I pray we all have a great 2010!
See you soon.
Alan Vanderheiden
John Holbrook - Realtor Amelia Island, Fernandina Beach & Yulee, Florida
Cell: 904-415-0171 Email: holbrook66@msn.com Web: www.nassaumls.net
www.johnholbrook.blogspot.com
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