Mortgage rates have been see-sawing up and down a bit for the Palos Verdes real estate market. A 30-year fixed conforming loan is 4.875% which is a quarter percent higher than 2 months ago and a quarter percent lower than last week. A 5/1 Year ARM is 3.875% and a 5/1 Interest Only loan is 4%. 30-year Fixed Jumbo rates are 6.125% for borrowers with FICO scores over 740 and 30% down. A jumbo 5/1 Year...
The availability of Jumbo Loans have affected the sale of Palos Verdes real estateover $1,200,000. It is a little tricky because there are jumbo loans available at rates that match May of 2008 - 6.875%. However, the number of buyers who can qualify for those loans has been diminished because these loans must be have full income verification and the borrower must have FICO scores of 700 or...
Last week Area Appraisal Management Company spoke at our Palos Verdes real estate office meeting to bring us up to date on the new appraisal rules - HVCC or Home Valuation Code of Conduct that went into affect May 1st. In the Sunday LA Times, Kenneth R. Harney wrote an article on the very same subject. They both gave the same information and it is not necessarily good. Lenders can no longer order...
Mortgage rates are down again for the Palos Verdes real estate market. A 30-year fixed conforming loan is 4.625% - That is a record low in Freddie Mac data going back to 1971! Fixed mortgage rates in the U.S. fell for a second consecutive week as the Federal Reserve plan to buy mortgage-back securities helped drive rates lower. 18 properties on the Palos Verdes Peninsula went into escrow in the...
Mortgage rates are down for a 30-year fixed compared to last month for the Palos Verdes real estate market. These rates are as of April 3, 2009. Also of note, the California Association of Realtors announced "a new program designed to provide peace of mind to first-time buyers who are hesitant to enter he housing market due to concerns about potential job loss, and subsequently being unable to...
Carol Quan, Special Assistant, Los Angeles Tax Assessor, spoke at our Palos Verdes real estate Remax office meeting and gave us an update on property tax reassessment. Before June, the Tax Assessor's Office will pro-actively review 400,000 Los Angeles County single family residences, townhomes and condos purchased between July 1, 2003 and June 30, 2008 to ascertain if there has been a decline in...
"Hope Stirs in Housing Market" was the headline in the LA Times front page on Wednesday. Peter Hong's positive piece states "Home prices in Southern California held steady in February for the first time in nearly a year, figures released Tuesday show, as low prices brought buyers back into the market." On top of that home construction rose nationwide. Sales of Palos Verdes real estate confirm...
March 14, 2009 We have had good news this week with the stock market up. Mortgage interest rates for the Palos Verdes real estate market are up slightly for a jumbo 30-year fixed loan at 6.5% versus 6.25% one month ago. As a comparison, last July the 30-year fixed jumbo was 7.75%. 6.5% is a great rate when one looks at the historical data. Conforming loans (up to...
There were a couple of positive changes for the Palos Verdes real estate market that will be enacted with the approval of the Stimulus Package. The conforming loan limit will be increased to $729,750 for 2009 for our local market. That means you can borrow up to $729,750 at the conforming jumbo rate. Lenders have told me for amounts higher than $729,750, clients have been obtaining a second mortgage...
This has been a very hopeful week for the country with the Inauguration and the new administration in the White House. We did have some negative news regarding Bank of America's fourth quarter results but mortgage rates have been holding steady. 4.75% interest for a 30-year fixed conforming loan is a great rate. 6.250% for a 30-year fixed jumbo loan is almost a full point lower than my last...