Helping Washington State homeowners learn more about their mortgage options.
Loan limits for VA mortgages have been announced and, like last few years, will follow the conforming loan limits.
Technically, VA loans do not have “loan limits” like conforming and FHA mortgages. The “loan limit” that is referred to with a VA loan is highest loan amount a Veteran can borrower without making a down payment. It’s really a great benefit to those who have served our county. [Read more…]
Conforming loan limits are increasing again this year with the “base” loan limit for a single family home raised to $453,100.
Conforming high balance areas for King, Snohomish and Pierce counties have have higher limits for 2018 as well.
San Juan County’s high balance loan limits are unchanged from 2017. [Read more…]
Conforming loan limits for 2018 have been announced. From FHFA’s News Release:
Earlier today, FHFA published its third quarter 2017 House Price Index (HPI) report, which includes estimates for the increase in the average U.S. home value over the last four quarters. According to FHFA’s seasonally adjusted, expanded-data HPI, house prices increased 6.8 percent, on average, between the third quarters of 2016 and 2017. Therefore, the baseline maximum conforming loan limit in 2018 will increase by the same percentage. [Read more…]
Every Thursday morning, Freddie Mac publishes the Prime Mortgage Market Survey, a weekly report based on conventional rates from the previous week. It’s an average and it’s also “old news” as a borrower cannot lock in last week’s rates… they can only lock in what’s available “now”. Last week’s survey shows that rates are remaining at historically low levels.
With that said, I don’t anticipate that rates will remain at these low levels forever. It will be interesting to see how having a new Fed Chair, assuming President Trump retires Janet Yellen as he’s indicating, will impact the direction of mortgage interest rates.
What we do know is rates are low “now” and that many home owners are appreciating increased equity… so if you’ve been considering refinancing, you may want to get the ball rolling.
I’m happy to help you with your purchase or refi of homes located anywhere in Washington state, where I’m licensed. Click here for a no-hassle mortgage rate quote.
There has been rampant wire fraud taking place in the real estate industry. This morning, I received an email appearing to contain a purchase and sales agreement for a new transaction with a link to download the contract.
Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of mortgage rates reveals that last week interest rates remained at 2017 lows.
From Freddie Mac’s Prime Mortgage Market Survey:
Attributed to Sean Becketti, chief economist, Freddie Mac.
“Following a sharp decline last week, the 10-year Treasury yield rose 11 basis points this week. The 30-year mortgage rate, however, remained unchanged at 3.78 percent. If Treasury yields continue to rise, mortgage rates could see an increase in next week’s survey.”
Remember, this is “last week’s” information. You cannot lock in a mortgage rate from last week unless you are a time traveler. If you would like current mortgage rates based on your personal scenario for your home located anywhere in Washington state, please contact me!
In light of Equifax’s recent massive credit breach, many people are going through the process of “freezing” their credit with each of the credit bureaus. This prevents someone from obtaining a new credit account in your name (it does not prevent them from using existing credit). I actually decided to freeze my credit a while back when it appeared that someone was trying to commit fraud with our address. It’s not that difficult to do and it’s pretty easy to forget about…until you decide to apply for new credit, such as getting a mortgage. [Read more…]
Equifax announced yesterday that they’ve were hacked on a scale unlike any we’ve seen potentially impacting half of our population.
From Equifax: “…a cybersecurity incident potentially impacting approximately 143 million U.S. consumers. Criminals exploited a U.S. website application vulnerability to gain access to certain files. Based on the company’s investigation, the unauthorized access occurred from mid-May through July 2017.” [Read more…]
Rhonda Porter is a Licensed Mortgage Originator MLO121324 living in the greater Seattle area. Rhonda began her career in 1986 in the title and escrow industry and began her mortgage career in 2000. She enjoys helping people understand the mortgage process and started writing The Mortgage Porter in late 2006. Read More…
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