As the chart here shows , we are absolutely seeing a seasonal up-tick in inventory in the 95135 area of the Evergreen foothills. February shows more new listings in half the month than all of January so far.  It is possible that some of this may be stimulated by recent news of actions by the Fed to LOWER rates and Congress to RAISE conforming loan limits. Whether this is seasonal or catalyzed by monetary policy, one thing is for sure, housing inventory will increase and competition for buyers will rise. Buyers who have been looking and have been on the sidelines have some more reasons to buy (higher limits, lower relative rates, and greater selection). Maybe this is what will be needed to boost the local area sales ?

To see the current area listings, you can use the local search tool here.

As many may have already heard Congress and the White House has proposed that the conforming loan limits be increased from the current $417,000 to a whopping $729,750.

What does this mean to you as a homeowner ? Here’s an example (example simplified for purposes of illustration):

Let’s say you bought a home in Evergreen for $900,000 and put a down payment of 20% or $180,000. The amount left to finance would be $720,000. At today’s conforming loan limits ($417,000) your loan would be considered a jumbo loan. Let’s further say that the jumbo rate is 6.5% (again a hypothetical number for illustration purposes) , then your monthly payment under the current limits would be $4598.34. Now fast forward to a happy scenario where the Senate does indeed approve the package and thus the bill jumps through all the hoops, your loan at $720,000 would be considered a conforming loan. What this mean ? Well generally conforming loans have lower interest rates! Conforming rates today show a value of 5.52% as compared to the 30-yr jumbo rate of 6.6%. So at the conforming rate, your monthly payment would be $4097.12. This is a difference of $501.22/month or $6014.68 in annual savings.  An important proposal ?  Yes, indeed.  Its all in the Senate’s hands now to make more happy homeowners.  We’ll keep a close watch on this development.