Mortgage News December 2013
Mortgage News December 2013
1. Good News. FannieMae and FreddieMac have elected to keep the 2014 Maximum Conforming Loan Limit at $417k for a 9th consecutive year. It’s hard to believe that in 1976 this limit was just $33,000 before gradually ascending to the $417k plateau in 2006. The 2014 limits are $417k for a 1-unit, $533,850 for a 2-unit, $645,300 for a 3-unit, and $801,950 for a 4-unit property.
2. Bad News. The 2014 Maximum FHA Loan Limit for metro-Atlanta is decreasing from $346,250 to $320,850. This applies to a 33 county metro-Atlanta area that now stretches all the way to the Athens area with the following 5 counties now included for the first time: Clarke, Madison, Oconee, Oglethorpe, and Morgan. The 2014 limits are $320,850 for a 1-unit, $410,750 for a 2-unit, $496,500 for a 3-unit, and $617,00 for a 4-unit property.
3. Jobs Up. The economy added 203k jobs in November (180k had been expected) while the Unemployment Rate dropped to 7% (from 7.3%), the lowest level since Nov 2008.
4. Fed Stimulus Program Possibly Near End. Several Fed officials have suggested they would like to see sustainable job gains of around 200k per month before scaling back the Fed’s bond purchase program. The economy has now added an average of 193k jobs a month over the last 3 months. The end of the bond purchase program seems near.
5. New Home Sales Surge. October New Home Sales increased 25%, but this was from a somewhat depressed level in September.
6. Strong Economic Data. 3rd Qtr GDP was revised substantially higher to the fastest pace of growth since the 1st Qtr of 2012. The ISM National Manufacturing Index also rose to the highest level since April 2011. Finally, Consumer Sentiment jumped to the highest level since July.
Rate Update: A wide range of major economic data released last week revealed an unexpectedly strong level of improvement in the labor market and other areas. Although this is good news for the economy, it is bad news for mortgage rates which ended the week slightly higher. 30 year fixed-rates are at 4.5% Conforming and 4.25% FHA/VA.
This Week: The most significant economic data due out this week are the Retail Sales report on Thursday and the PPI inflation report on Friday. Also,the next Fed meeting will take place on December 18.
Thanks to James Williamson, Robbie Crozier and Susan Sharp at Shelter Mortgage for the above Mortgage news update. Contact them to get your home purchase loan or refinance started – tell them Sally sent you:
Call them to get started on your home loan:
James Williamson 404-483-5512 James.Williamson@sheltermortgage.com
Robbie Crozier 770-337-9833 robbie.crozier@sheltermortgage.com
Susan Sharp 770-724-8121 susan.sharp@sheltermortgage.com
Looking for a good real estate agent to help you buy or sell a home in Atlanta GA – call Sally English direct at 404-229-2995 or email sallyenglish@englishteam.com