Things are looking up for buyers and owners of higher-priced homes: The jumbo-loan freeze is thawing.

After the bank scare began last fall, jumbos — mortgages bigger than what the government will buy or guarantee (between $417,000 and $729,750, depending on the location) — dried up.

Jumbo rates have not dropped, and the guidelines are so restrictive that's it's been in kind of a holding pattern. Rates on 30-year fixed jumbo mortgages averaged 6.52% recently, compared with 7.51% six months ago.

Limits on reverse mortgages rising, too:

The other bright spot for owners of higher-priced homes is this:  Reverse mortgages just became much more lucrative. Until recently, the Federal Housing Administration had a hodgepodge of county-by-county caps on the equity you could withdraw.

Now, the limits are higher. In November, the FHA went to one national ceiling: $417,000. This year, to stimulate housing sales, it raised the ceiling to $625,500.

Today, if you want a reverse mortgage on your high-end house, you can get — at age 70, for example (withdrawal amounts vary by age) — 65% of $625,500. Even if your million-dollar house is worth only $800,000 today, you'll get more from a reverse mortgage than you would've in its million-dollar heyday.

 

 

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Best Buyer’s Broker Realty is an Exclusive Buyer Agent specializing in Long Island real estate (Nassau and Suffolk properties) and neighboring Queens County properties.

We don’t take any seller listings (yet we have more homes for you to see than most agents) and never have any potential conflict of interest like other agents who also represent sellers. We represent buyers only, 100% of the time. We can show you more homes for sale because we have access to MLS, FSBOs, Exclusives (homes that agents try to keep secret), foreclosures and homes not on the market that may be of interest to you.

We are not your traditional real estate agent. Our goal is to advise and protect home buyers and help them obtain the lowest price and best terms on their dream home. Call us at 516-887-6901 to see how we can help you save time and money. Or visit our sites at http://bestbuyersbroker.com or http://bestbuyerbroker.com.

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