Last Friday, the Seattle Times ran an interesting story about a “limousine driver, earning little more than minimum wage” being approved for a loan on a $1.5 million condo in Bellevue Towers. The story was also picked up by at least one of the local television news outlets, and has been making the rounds on…
Tag: lending
Government Loan Limits Lowered $60k for Seattle
As astute market observers may recall, back in March (pre-complete-government-takeover) the conforming loan limit for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-backed loans was bumped from $417,000 to $567,500 for the Seattle area (King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties). At that time, the local press was touting the new limits at “a big dose of first aid” and…
Local Banks Slammed by Housing Bust
From today’s Everett Herald: Housing slump hits local banks hard Low interest rates, the loss of the home construction boom and investor pessimism all are weighing down on bank stocks, dealing a big blow to all three of the local banks traded on Wall Street. Lynnwood’s City Bank, along with Frontier Financial and Cascade Financial…
WaMu Cuts Home Equity Credit + More Financing News
The Puget Sound Business Journal reported Friday on some more news from WaMu that is likely to affect local homeowners. Washington Mutual Inc. has slashed or suspended $6 billion in available home equity credit to its customers in an effort to reduce its risk in a flailing housing market. If they haven’t already been notified,…
A remarkable period in time: a changed market.
I’ve got so many topics to talk about but very little time. I have to start somewhere. Just months ago it was not uncommon (understatement) to see 100% financed nothing down purchase transactions with various ARM’s tied to LIBOR or other indices coupled with hefty pre-payment penalties, interest-only hybrids with no escrow impounds for taxes…