Fraud, Rate Trends and Jumbo Conforming Loans.

I have too many things I wanted to mention before the week is us, so here are 3 topics for your Utah Mortgage Education as you go into the weekend.

First, the Mortgage Bankers Association released their annual fraud rankings yesterday. Once again Utah is found right near the top. This year we are number 5, with only Florida, Nevada, Michigan and California ahead of the Beehive State. Back in October I posted a 4 part article on Loan Fraud in Utah. I posted an article that I had recently written regarding loan fraud, its many faces, how to avoid it, and how to fix the problem facing Utah. You can read my postings here: http://utahloanexpert.blogspot.com/2007/10/utah-loan-fraud-part-1.html

Or you can simply email me at jayhart@cottonwoodmtg.com and I will send you the entire report.

Second, I recently read a report that included a survey of Mortgage Professionals from across the country. Loan Officers were asked to predict the where interest rates will go over the next 90 days. Of those surveyed 82.7% believed that interest rates will either remain unchanged or will decrease in the next 3 months, with 51% saying that rates will decline only slightly.

As for me, I think I agree. I don’t anticipate any major drops in rates, but I do think we will see some movement. There has been downward pressure on rates this entire week as stocks have struggled. I wouldn’t be shocked to see incremental drops over the next 2-3 weeks followed by a leveling out for a period. But then again, every time I read a prediction it turns out to be wrong.

And finally, earlier this week I mentioned that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had increased the Jumbo Loan Limits in parts of Utah, allowing for previously held Jumbo Loans to be refinanced at the conforming interest rates. Well, more information has come out which makes it not quick as big a boon for home owners as anticipated. Here are some guidelines for the new loan limits:

1. No Cash Out. Rate and Term Changes only.
2. 90% Loan to Value limit for Fixed Rate and 80% Loan to Value for ARM’s for Purchases, 75% Loan to Value limit for refinances.
3. 660 FICO requirements for purchases.
4. Absolutely no late mortgage payments in the past 12 months.
5. No Stated Income loans.
6. No Construction-to-Permanent Financing available.
   

Make sense? If you are looking for a loan between $417,000 and $729,000 and you wonder if these restrictions apply to you, you can call me at 801-256-0904 or email me at jayhart@cottonwoodmtg.com and we can break it down.

Have a great weekend.