What a beginning to the New Year!!! RATES ARE CONTINUING TO DROP!! Once the Holidays wrapped up, business began humming again. Many purchases transactions are cranking in and NOW is a great time to refinance your house – cash out or rate and term. So, financial planners and CPAs – as those tax returns come in, look at your client’s portfolio, if they are above 4.375%, have them seriously consider a refinance or cash-out refi to buy that second home they have always wanted, or pay for college! The stock market is staying fairly strong (outside of minor corrections this week), employment is up (Jobs Report today stated more jobs, but stable to decreasing wages), housing market is strong – everything is cooking along.
Back in late November FNMA announced their 3% conventional loan (not just 5% any longer). Just today, due to Obama’s speech, FHA announced that they are reducing MIP (Mortgage Insurance) by 50 basis points on all loans greater than 15 year term loans (really applies to the 30 year loans). Since FHA loan have MI for the life of the loan, this is a nice step in the right direction. It will be a month or so before implementation, but it’s on its way. So, it’s a great time for first time home buyers (FTHB) to purchase a home!!!
