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Home loan limits lifted for first time since 2006

Posted on December 2, 2016 | Leave a comment

Federal borrowing limits were increased for the first time in more than a decade last week because of rising home prices across the nation. The Federal Housing Financing Agency had capped the baseline loan limit since 2006 as home prices dropped during the recession.

The new rates, used for conforming loans acquired by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, will take effect Jan. 1. In general, federally backed loans allow for smaller down payments and, theoretically, help more people enter the home market.

In San Diego County, loan limits for a typical single-family home will be $612,950, up 6 percent from where they are now. Those limits are higher than the national baseline of $424,100.

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Website helps house hunters find the best schools

Posted on December 2, 2016 | Leave a comment

House hunters with children now have another option when seeking a neighborhood with a good school.

air housing laws prohibit agents from providing advice or opinions on schools because it could be considered steering people to particular neighborhoods. However, agents for several years have been recommending to buyers information on GreatSchools.org, which ranks schools on a one-to-10 scale and on other third-party sites.

Now another site called Cruvita.com launched its own school-rating system, offering buyers the ability to see house listings by school district. Buyers can search by city, Zip code or county to get a list of schools with a letter grade. Cruvita has real estate listings in many areas, including the District and numerous jurisdictions in Maryland and Northern Virginia.

The Cruvita School Score uses a patent-pending algorithm to rank and grade most public schools in the United States based on test scores and other educational data. The lower the score, the better the school. The letter grades are assigned to schools nationwide to make it easier for buyers to compare schools quickly; a B+ in Maryland is equal to a B+ in Arizona.

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San Diego – Median home prices surpasses $500,000

Posted on November 30, 2016 | Leave a comment

The median home price in October exceeded a half-million dollars for the first time in a decade in San Diego County, real estate tracker CoreLogic reported Tuesday.

Pushed up by high demand and limited supply, the median price hit $507,500, up 11 percent from a year ago. It has still not reached the housing boom peak of $517,500 in November 2005.

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Part of last month’s price jump was due to a substantial increase in the price of newly built homes and resale condos.

The median price of a new home in the county was $765,000, a jump of 26 percent from the same time last year. There were 256 new home sales in October, up 20 percent from the same time last year.

But resale homes, which made up 63 percent of October sales, also powered prices up. The median price for a resale house was $549,000, up 9.1 percent, its biggest year-over-year increase in 2016. Sales came in at 2,259, up 5.5 percent from a year ago.

More than 1,000 resale condos sold, bringing the median to $385,000, up 10 percent in a year and its highest point since May 2007.

Andrew LePage, data analyst at CoreLogic, noted home sales were still at historic lows, about 6 percent below average for October going back to 1988. He said the lack of homes for sale continues to put pressure on the market.

“It comes down to job growth and limited supply,” he said.

disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

Home loan limits lifted for first time since 2006

Website helps house hunters find the best schools

San Diego – Median home prices surpasses $500,000

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