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Do you have a Jumbo problem?

jumbo-loans-real-estate

In order to obtain a mortgage of $465,000 or above its called a “jumbo” loan. Numerous Boston condo buyers need jumbo mortgages to purchase property. Here’s the problem:

According to The Wall Street Journal President Obama’s housing stability plan is ignoring this segment of the market, and so are lenders, few of whom are originating or refinancing jumbo mortgages. The reason: Jumbo loans are too large to be guaranteed by a government backed mortgage agency, such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

From The Wall Street Journal:

“Every single day I’m talking to people who have a jumbo loan, and I can’t do anything for them.” says Jeff Lazerson, a mortgage broker…

While total mortgage origination fell by 17% in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter jumbo origination fell by 42% to $11 billion, according to Inside Mortgage Finance….

Are you (do you know) of someone trying to obtain a jumbo loan?

Do you think that the conforming-loan limits ($465,000) are too low for Boston?

Read other posts about: real estate

7 Responses to “Do you have a Jumbo problem?” »»

  1. Comment by CityMouse | 02/24/09 at 1:33 pm

    The problem is that for the housing market to rebound people who can afford to buy need to be able to buy housing at all levels and banks have essentially stopped lending on higher end properties even for well qualified borrowers.

    I have a pre-construction unit under agreement for roughly $1 million. When we signed the P&S quite a while back the market was much better and jumbos were very easy to come buy. Even then, we had planned to put 20% down. Now that closing time is approaching and we’ve started talking to lenders we’ve found that most are requiring 30% down in Boston and a few are willing to do 25%.

    We have found that Citizens is willing to do a first mortgage for 75% and a seocnd for 5%. Also, many credit unions are still willing to do 20% down jumbos. The national banks however are essentially out of the jumbo loan business in Boston for the time being.

    I don’t think its fair to say that someone who has 20%available for a down payment, sufficient reserves and the income to support the debt service is in any way an irresponsible borrower. 20% has been the accepted standard for down payments for as long as I can remember.

  2. Comment by PaulC | 02/24/09 at 2:03 pm

    City Mouse, I agree with you. I don’t see how the higher end market will improve unless banks stating lending out jumbo loans with 20% down.

  3. Comment by Jumbo | 02/24/09 at 2:50 pm

    What I’ve found is that many banks aren’t paying attention to the increased conforming loan limit for Boston. Supposedly it’s $465K, but most local lenders are still considering anything over $417k to be a jumbo. Why is that? I don’t get it. Even that 48k can make the difference in what I can afford.

  4. Comment by Ned L | 02/24/09 at 2:55 pm

    Well, the problem is just what CityMouse said: its hard for a qualified buyer to get a jumbo loan for 20% down.

    As to why it is a problem in Boston, here is some info from LINK. Average selling price in Beacon Hill last year was $716,000 and in Back Bay (ignore 2008, its way too high) the average selling price for the three previous years hovered at the $900,000 mark.

  5. Comment by condobuyer | 02/24/09 at 5:57 pm

    We’ve gone from one extreme to another…in 2005 when we weren’t ready to buy (b/c we wanted to put atleast 10
    % down) we had mortgage offers of 0% down. Now we would put 20% down, but sounds like buying a $1M place might be difficult unless we put more down. The people who messed this up over the last decade have made all our lives difficult it seems.

  6. Comment by Numbers Guy | 02/24/09 at 8:16 pm

    Are the bankrate.com quotes correct? TD Bank NA is providing 5.875% with 0 points…not sure what the req’d % down is…

  7. Comment by CityMouse | 02/24/09 at 8:37 pm

    Those rates are correct. Citizens quoted me 5.99% last week. But I’m sure TDBN is requiring a minimum of 25% down and obviously rates go up considerably of you don’t have impecable credit.

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    Boston Back Bay Condos 3rd Q 2011





    Back Bay Condo Sales 3rd Quarter 2011 - 150. Number of Back Bay condo sales in the 3rd Q of 2010 - 126

    Back Bay average condo sales price in the 3rd Q of 2011 - $974,258.00. Back Bay average condo sales price in the 3rd Q of 2010 - $944,320.00

    Back Bay condo 3rd Q 2011 sales price per square foot $736.88 Back Bay condo 3rd Q 2010 sales price per square foot $731.88

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    Back Bay Condo Sales form April 1, 2011 - May 1, 2011 - 27

    Avg. Back Bay condo sales price - $1,324,226.00

    Med. Back Bay condo sales price - $1,210,000.00

    Back Bay condo sales price per square foot - $787.00

    Avg. days on the market for Back Bay condo - 184

    Boston Back Bay condos sold from Jan 1, 2011 - April 28, 2011 - 105.

    Average sales price for a Back Bay condominium in 2011 - $1,317,969.00

    Median sales price for a Back Bay condominium in 2011 - $865,000.00

    Average price per sqaure foot for a Back Bay condo in 2011 - $805.00

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    Back Bay condos/real estate sales for the 1st Quarter of 2011:

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    Back Bay Condos Sold Jan 1, 2011 - April 16, 2011

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    Average Back Bay condo price: $1,407,795.00

    Median Back Bay condo sales price: $852,500.00

    Average price per square foot for a Back Bay Condo $863.00

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    Back Bay Condos Sold 2011

    Back Bay condos sold: 50

    Average Back Bay condo sales price:$1,367,003.00

    Median Back Bay condo sales price: $953,750.00

    Average Price per $/SF: $806

    Average days on the market for a Back Bay condo: 124

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    Beacon Hill Condos Sales Stats 2011





    Beacon Hill condos sold form Jan 1, 2011 - April 28, 2011 - 37

    Average Beacon Hill condo sales price - $799,809.00

    Median Beacon Hill condos sales price - $560,000.00

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    Boston Condos Brighton Sales Stats 2011





    Boston Brighton Condo sales - 25

    Brighton condo avg. sales price $259,510

    Brighton condo med. sales price $262,000

    Brighton condo price per sq ft $283.00

    Brighton condo days-on-market 90

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    Charlestown condo sales - 25

    Charlestown average condo - $545,019

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    Average days-on-market 123

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    Fenway Condos Sales Stats 2011







    Fenway Condo Sales 2011

    Fenway condo sales 7

    Average Fenway condo price $292,500

    Median Fenway condo price $282,500

    Fenway price per sq ft $435.00

    Fenway days-on-market 237

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