Santa Barbara Real Estate Gets Wish Granted from the FHA
categories: Real Estate News, Santa Barbara
After a fair amount of backlash and letter writing, the government this week raised the mortgage limits for loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration in several high cost California counties, including Santa Barbara. The maximum amount of $729,750 will now be allowed for the Santa Barbara area and only time will tell what effect this will have on the housing market here. For many residents here in the Santa Barbara area where the average price of a single family home is over $ 1 Million, this will allow homeowners with high-rate sub-prime mortgages to refinance into federally insured loans. Additionally, it will allow buyers that are out there to obtain better loans for the lower end market.
Overall the market here in Santa Barbara has seen a significant increase in activity during the first 2 months of 2008, with pending sales abound across the board. I have talked with many lenders and Realtors in the last several weeks and the assumption is that this stimulus package will only increase activity in the market.
The Washington AP stated, “The package also includes a temporary increase in the cap on mortgages that the government-sponsored mortgage companies Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) can buy or guarantee from $417,000 to $729,750. The idea is to stoke investor demand for securities made up of more expensive mortgages — so-called jumbo loans — backed by Fannie and Freddie, the two biggest mortgage financers in the country. That would drive interest rates lower and spur home buying and refinancing.”
Other California high cost counties that received the maximum level for FHA loans are Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Marin, Monterey, Napa, Orange, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Ventura.
Further Reading: Is My Realtor a Santa Barbara Neighborhood Specialist in My Area?, Search the Santa Barbara, Goleta, Montecito CA MLS for Free, My Home has Declined in Value…Can My Property Taxes Be Lowered?, Plan For Your Santa Barbara Remodel Now, So You Don’t Go Crazy Later, The 2 Major First Steps in Buying a Home in Santa Barbara CA., The Positives of an FHA Loan Here in the Santa Barbara Area, Little Known Advantages of Blogging Realtors…Santa Barbara and Montecito CA.
For information on Real Estate here in Santa Barbara, Montecito and/or our surrounding areas, as well as any other aspects of life in our area, please don’t hesitate to contact Kevin Schmidtchen at Sotheby’s Int’l Realty.
Thank you for reading. I hope you find Santa Barbara Real Estate Voice informative. Please feel free to contact me or comment below with any thoughts.
Subscribe to Receive Personal Listings of Santa Barbara Area Properties
Search the Santa Barbara Area MLS
| Discussion:
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
; ?>/images/MatoChiclet.gif)
