Recently, Congress and President Obama passed the $787B stimulus bill also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. While there are many components which will affect the housing market, such as loan modifications, there is another important feature that should help new homebuyers (and sellers) in the San Francisco real estate market. The bill has called for a temporary increase (year 2009) in the jumbo/super conforming loan limit to match the the limits set in early 2008. 1 unit=$729,500; 2 unit=$934,200; 3 unit=$1,129,250; 4 unit=$1,403,400. This increase is important because San Francisco property prices are higher and buyers can take advantage of the better rates offered on jumbo-conforming loans which on average is .75-1.0pt less than the jumbo loan rate.
So when will the changes “become reality?” I recently spoke to a lender about the changes and they shared that it will take some time before we see the effects as the government first has to determine pricing and other changes, then the lenders have to adjust their pricing and terms based on those changes. The ETA for seeing the rate changes is approximately 30-45 days.