Mortgage investors were more focused on last week's Treasury auctions than on the economic data. Overall, demand remained healthy for US Treasury securities, and mortgage rates ended the week a little lower. Major economic reports on Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Durable Orders, and Chicago PMI manufacturing contained mixed results and were roughly neutral for mortgage rates.

Last week's housing market data was generally positive. June New Home Sales jumped 11%, the third straight month of increases. Inventories of unsold new homes fell to an 8.8-month supply from a 10.2-month supply in May. The May Case-Shiller index of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas rose 0.5% from April, following 34 straight months of declines. While the results varied greatly in different parts of the country, the increase in average prices provided support for the analysts w ho believe that the housing market has bottomed.

Update on future and current Condo listings. The spot approval purchase program for FHA will end the last day of September. The opportunity to us FHA for your listing is still available however a DE approved lender must approve your project (if not already on the FHA site).

The good news is that FHA concentration for spot was only 10% allowable, with the new program FHA will allow 30% (and this may get higher). The bad news is that this will require Realtor to take the HOA by the horns and make sure all the requirements for FHA are met so the condo project can be approved.

With the current lending limit in Mecklenburg County sitting at $303,750 most condos on the market will fit within the range. Conforming loans for condos now require 10% down to get mortgage insurance. So FHA will really increase your available market. Important to note FHA approval cannot be given to mixed use condos where more than 25% of the floor space is commercial use.

We will put out more on the requirements as we move later towards the deadline. In the meantime if you would like to get a head start please shoot us an email and we can send you a list of requirements.

Have a great week and good luck with your clients’ whether they are buyers or sellers
As usual stay informed, stay in touch and remember the Valeo-Croy team is here for you.

Today's Rates:
30 YR Fixed - 5.125%
30 YR FHA - 5.375%
15 YR Fixed - 4.875%
5/1 ARM - 4.500%
7/1 ARM - 4.750%
30 YR Fixed JUMBO - 6.125%
5/1 ARM Jumbo - 5.375%
7/1 ARM Jumbo - 5.750%
5/1 <70% LTV - 5.250%