Long Beach California Real Estate Loans

Long Beach, Ca.  Equity market is retreating today on earnings concerns and lower oil prices. Bond market is negative this morning as well and is down .125% in price from Friday's close. The artificial bond market now is dependent upon when the FED is buying mortgaged backed bonds.  $10 billion down, $490 billion to go!  So goes the Fed's program to buy $500 billion in securities backed by mortgages. It has certainly helped conforming conventional rates "tighten" to Treasury pricing.

There is no relevant economic news scheduled for release today or tomorrow. Look for the stock markets to influence bond trading and therefore mortgage rates until we get to the relevant data later in the week. If we continue to see stock weakness, bonds may thrive, pushing mortgage rates slightly lower.  The rest of the week brings us the release of five pieces of economic data to digest. The first is December's Retail Sales data early Wednesday morning. Overall, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday may end up being the most important day of the week. The single most important report is the CPI, but the Retail Sales and PPI reports on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, are also considered to be of high importance

As a home owner, ou need to be aware of  the economic stimulus package, which is slated for a full House vote next month, will hike the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac loan limit back up to $729,500, said Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. The Democrat from Massachusetts said the loan limit increase has received the blessing of the incoming Obama Administration. The loan limit (for high-cost housing areas only) had been temporarily increased to $729,500 early last year but expired at Dec. 31. The new loan cap is $625,000, which will remain in place until the stimulus legislation passes. Many top ranked lenders continue offering jumbo mortgages but at interest rates 200 basis points higher than on "conforming" loans.  We are expecting this will probably pass as currently, anyone who closed a loan at the 2008 limits are shut out from refinancing at the lower 2009 agency jumbo limits.

On a positive sounding note, the attached article discusses the positives of hidden values for the housing market.  Something your realtor referral sources may appreciate receiving as they look for support to encourage clients to buy a home.   http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=aUCkQKQ1IrkA&refer=home

Lastly, as expected many people are calling for added oversight to FHA as the percentage of loans being originated exceed 60% of the market or more.  The Federal Housing Administration needs to beef up oversight of its mortgage programs, a task that is both increasingly difficult and important as the agency's market share grows and its resources are stretched, according to Friday testimony by a government auditor. The FHA, which provides government-backed mortgage insurance, needs to increase personnel, increase training for personnel and increase oversight of appraisal and underwriting, according to James Heist, assistant inspector general for audit with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees FHA.

Kirk Mulhearn, a mortgage planner and real estate broker, may be contacted at 866-961-8042 ext. 110