What Goes Up Must….New FHA and Conforming Loan Limits

November 12th, 2008 | categories: Buying Real Estate in Coconut Grove

Ever get that feeling that the ceiling is a bit low?  FHA announced that it is rolling back it’s loan limits as of January 1, 2009 in response to falling property values.  As of the first of the year the new FHA loan limit for Miami Dade and Broward County will drop from $423,750 to $345,000.  That’s not all……you will also be required to make a 3.5% down payment as opposed to the current requirement of a 3% down payment.

But alas there is always a silver lining.  The conforming loan limit (i.e. non FHA or VA financing) will not be lowered and will remain at $417,000.  The other bit of good news is that the interest rates on loans above the conforming loan limit which are considered “Jumbo Mortgages” have dropped almost 1% since October and currently stand at 6.75% with no points.

So if you want higher FHA loan limits and lower FHA down payments the time to buy is now.  If you want the same conforming loan limit and lower FHA, conforming or Jumbo interest rates the time to buy is now.  Or you can stick you head in the sand and pray that things improve.

Authored By Our Guest Contributor: James Venney CMPS, CMA
Phone: (305) 960-2671
Email: [email protected]
James Venney is a licensed mortgage broker and a State Certified Residential Appraiser. Currently, he is the top producing mortgage banker at Home Services Lending which is a joint venture with Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway and Wells Fargo Bank.

Written by James. Venney

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 at 2:23 pm and is filed under Buying Real Estate in Coconut Grove. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  1. rileysmith said at November 12th, 2008 at 2:29 pm

    Thanks for the post James.
    Hopefully we will see a rash of buyers wanting to buy before that December 31 deadline.

  2. Bob Bishopric said at November 14th, 2008 at 3:02 am

    James:

    Good info, thanks. And your site is looking really great!

  3. mortgage for veterans said at March 11th, 2009 at 1:20 am

    I dont usually comment, but after reading through so much info I had to say thanks

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