Breaking News - The next house you buy just got a lot cheaper!  No, it's not what you think..

Hi everybody,  It’s Joe Hillner with Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty, where we guarantee that your home will sell for 101% of asking price, or I'll pay you the difference! 
Ok, so every week, I share market data to keep you informed with the local real estate market.  
Here is this week’s Boca Market Watch.

First, Single Family Homes:

This past week, an average week, with 43 new homes on the market, ranging from $425,000 to $6.5 Million!   15 homes back on the market, while 12 homes listed took a price decrease, and 5 sellers raised their asking price.  And  a very poor week with just 26 different properties under contract, and only 19 going pending - that's the slowest week I've ever seen!   And just 15 homes were unsuccessful in selling and were taken off the market or the listing expired outright.  And a better week with 66 homes sold in the past week,  ranging from $296K to $12 Million! 

Next up, Condos and Townhomes:

64 new listings, not great, and ranging from $110 Grand to $6.5 Million.  
23 units came back on the market, 22 properties with a price decrease, and 5 sellers with an increase.  35 different properties went under contract, and another 48 went pending, like single family homes, a quiet week.  And 18 condos or townhomes were unsuccessful in selling and were taken off the market or the listing expired.  83 closed sales this week, a better week for condos, and ranging in price from $65 Grand to $3.7 Million!

Here's what's making news right now.  

In a much anticipated move, the FHFA, which is the Fed's governing body for lending, just announced that they have raised the conforming loan limits.  It was previously expected that the new loan limit for conventional conforming loans was going up to $625,000 in January.  

However, we just got a very welcome surprise when it was announced that the new loan limit beginning in Jan will be $647,200, wow!  That's an 18% increase over the previous limit and is a recognition that with prices shooting up everywhere, FNMA and FHMLC need to provide buyers with some relief.  

Following suit, the Dept of HUD similarly announced new, higher loan limits for FHA loans, to $420,680 for a single family home.  Presumably, VA loans will mirror that as well.

So what does all this mean?  If you're in the market to buy a home, it just made that purchase more affordable.  Let me give you some examples.  If you have great credit, income and employment, you probably qualify for conventional financing.  With just a minimal down payment of 5%, you can now buy a $680,000 home and still be within the new loan limit.  Previously, you would've had to make a larger down payment and it still would've would have put you into the jumbo loan category, at a higher rate and more stringent qualification ratios, or you would have had to get a two loan scenario, again costing you more.  You will now be able to make that purchase and enjoy the super low conforming mortgage rates, currently around 3.2%.  That'll allow you to buy the home you really want, and still end up with a low monthly payment.  Previously, you would have had to put 20% down on the property, or an additional $102,000, to get the same conforming loan treatment.  That's a huge difference!

And if you're a first time buyer and you're looking for an FHA loan with the minimum 3.5% down payment, that just got better too.  You can now purchase a home for $435,000 and still take advantage of the small down payment, generous debt to income ratios, and low monthly payments afforded by the FHA program.  That is some very welcome news indeed!

I know that prices have been shooting up, but there are still lots of buyers out there competing for properties.  These financing changes have put homes that might have gotten out of reach for some buyers, now firmly within their grasp and that's pretty great!  Sometimes, government actually works!!