Highlights of the "Obama" administration's white paper eliminates many of today's favorable mortgage conditions. So, if you plan to finance a home purchase it most likely will cost you more in the near future:
Higher insurance fees on FHA mortgages
A possible increase in minimum down payments for FHA-currently just 3.5%
Significant reductions in maximum loan amounts later this year for both FHA
and conventional loans eligible for purchase by Fannie or Freddie Mac unless Congress votes to retain the current statutory $729,750 limit for high-cost areas (Florida Keys) before it expires on Oct 1.
The report also calls for raising down payment requirements at Fannie Mae and Freddie to 10%
Retaining the controversial and costly add-on fees charged by Fannie & Freddie that can increase the expense of obtaining even a moderate sized mortgage by thousands of dollars.
The administrations wants to wind down Fannie and Freddie over the coming years but also reduce the size of FHA's role-cutting its market share from around 30 percent today to 10%.
Bottom Line:Get ready to pay more for mortgages no matter what ultimately happens to Fannie & Freddie.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Real estate is 'as affordable as it gets'
NEW YORK - Feb. 10, 2011 - Now is a good time to buy real estate, according to data from Moody's Analytics. Home affordability has returned to pre-housing bubble levels or even fallen below the average in many U.S. markets.
In fact, housing affordability by the end of September had returned to or fallen below the average reached between 1989-2003 in 47 of the 74 housing markets that Moody Analytics tracked.
In September 2010, the ratio of home prices to annual household income had fallen to 1.6 - below the historical average of 1.9 between 1989 and 2003. The ratio peaked in 2005 at 2.3.
"Based on incomes, this is as affordable as it gets," says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. "If you can get a loan, these are pretty good times to buy."
Source: "Home affordability returns to pre-bubble levels," The Wall Street Journal Online (Feb. 8, 2011)
If you have question or need information about the Keys please contact me or go to my web site www.robskeel.com which contains all kind of great data about the Florida Keys.
In fact, housing affordability by the end of September had returned to or fallen below the average reached between 1989-2003 in 47 of the 74 housing markets that Moody Analytics tracked.
In September 2010, the ratio of home prices to annual household income had fallen to 1.6 - below the historical average of 1.9 between 1989 and 2003. The ratio peaked in 2005 at 2.3.
"Based on incomes, this is as affordable as it gets," says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. "If you can get a loan, these are pretty good times to buy."
Source: "Home affordability returns to pre-bubble levels," The Wall Street Journal Online (Feb. 8, 2011)
If you have question or need information about the Keys please contact me or go to my web site www.robskeel.com which contains all kind of great data about the Florida Keys.
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