Jumbo mortgage

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In the United States, a jumbo mortgage is a mortgage loan that may have high credit quality, but is in an amount above conventional conforming loan limits. [1] This standard is set by the two government-sponsored enterprises (GSE), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and sets the limit on the maximum value of any individual mortgage they will purchase from a lender. Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FHLMC) are large agencies that purchase the bulk of U.S. residential mortgages from banks and other lenders, allowing them to free up liquidity to lend more mortgages. When FNMA and FHLMC limits don't cover the full loan amount, the loan is referred to as a "jumbo mortgage". Traditionally, the interest rates on jumbo mortgages are higher than for conforming mortgages, however with GSE fees increasing, Jumbo loans have recently seen lower interest rates than conforming loans. [1]

Contents

History

On February 13, 2008, President George W. Bush signed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (Pub. L. Tooltip Public Law (United States)  110–289 (text) (PDF) , 122  Stat.   2654 , enacted July 30, 2008), which temporarily increased the jumbo conforming limit in the United States. The limit was raised to $729,750 or 125% of the median home value within the metropolitan statistical area, whichever is the lesser. [2] Initially due to expire in December 2008, the new limits were extended through 2010. [3] Mortgage lenders did not freely adopt these new limits, making them essentially "theoretical," as mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000 still attracted higher interest rates.[ citation needed ]

As of 2010, the limit on a conforming loan in "general" areas was $417,000 for most of the US, apart from Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, where the limit was $625,500. The limit in "high cost" areas was $729,750 and $938,250, respectively. [3]

On October 1, 2011, the jumbo conforming limit of $729,750 in "high cost" areas was reduced to $625,500. [4]

On November 28, 2017, the US Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that the ceiling loan limit for one-unit properties in most high-cost areas will be $679,650 — or 150 percent of $453,100. [5]

Risk

A mortgage broker is an intermediary between a lender and a borrower. Jumbo mortgage loans are a higher risk for lenders, mainly due to their larger size rather than credit quality. [1] This is because if a jumbo mortgage loan defaults, it may be harder to sell a luxury residence quickly for full price. Luxury prices are more vulnerable to market highs and lows in some cases. That is one reason lenders prefer to have a higher down payment from jumbo loan seekers. Jumbo home prices can be more subjective and not as easily sold to a mainstream borrower, therefore many lenders may require two appraisals on a jumbo mortgage loan.

Costs

The interest rate charged on jumbo mortgage loans is generally higher than a loan that is conforming, due to the higher risk to the lender. The spread, or difference between the two rates, depends on the current market price of risk. While typically the spread fluctuates between 0.25 and 0.5%, at times of high investor anxiety, such as August 2007, it can exceed one and a half percentage points. It can be more expensive to refinance a jumbo loan due to the closing costs. Some lenders will offer the service of an extension and consolidation agreement, so that a jumbo refinancer will not have to pay for mortgage tax again on the same principal balance. In other cases, title insurance companies will offer up to a 50% discount, often required by law for those refinancing within 1 year to 10 years. The largest discount is for refinancing within one year.

Role in US housing bubble

As house prices rose as part of the United States housing bubble, there was a large increase in the number of jumbo loan applicants. Due to rising prices, many consumers had to take out jumbo mortgages in order to buy modest homes in big-city areas;[ citation needed ] this option was no longer limited to high-end luxury residences.

Many of these new loans were 40- or 50-year amortization, or had an interest-only option, similar to subprime loans. That meant that the jumbo loan borrower would pay the loan back over a longer period of time, or could defer any repayment of principal for a few years (thereby also increasing the total amount to be paid back). However from 2007, as prices fell and the number of foreclosures rose, lenders turned away from providing jumbo mortgages. [6] Lenders that did remain in the jumbo loan market increased rates sharply, with rates up to 1.5 percentage points higher than for conforming loans. [7] This withdrawal from the market led to a lack of lending available to fund the purchases of expensive homes, thus putting further downward pressure on house prices and completing a vicious circle. [8]

The delinquency rate on jumbo loans rose dramatically, tripling over the course of 2009, and by February 2010, almost one in ten jumbo mortgages were 'seriously delinquent' (i.e. in arrears by at least 60 days). [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fannie Mae</span> Government-backed financial services company

The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the New Deal, the corporation's purpose is to expand the secondary mortgage market by securitizing mortgage loans in the form of mortgage-backed securities (MBS), allowing lenders to reinvest their assets into more lending and in effect increasing the number of lenders in the mortgage market by reducing the reliance on locally based savings and loan associations. Its brother organization is the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), better known as Freddie Mac.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freddie Mac</span> American government-sponsored enterprise

The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), commonly known as Freddie Mac, is a publicly traded, government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), headquartered in Tysons, Virginia. The FHLMC was created in 1970 to expand the secondary market for mortgages in the US. Along with its sister organization, the Federal National Mortgage Association, Freddie Mac buys mortgages, pools them, and sells them as a mortgage-backed security (MBS) to private investors on the open market. This secondary mortgage market increases the supply of money available for mortgage lending and increases the money available for new home purchases. The name "Freddie Mac" is a variant of the FHLMC initialism of the company's full name that was adopted officially for ease of identification.

A government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) is a type of financial services corporation created by the United States Congress. Their intended function is to enhance the flow of credit to targeted sectors of the economy, to make those segments of the capital market more efficient and transparent, and to reduce the risk to investors and other suppliers of capital. The desired effect of the GSEs is to enhance the availability and reduce the cost of credit to the targeted borrowing sectors primarily by reducing the risk of capital losses to investors: agriculture, home finance and education. Well known GSEs are the Federal National Mortgage Association, known as Fannie Mae, and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, or Freddie Mac.

In the United States, a conforming loan is a mortgage loan that both meets the underwriting guidelines of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and that does not exceed the conforming loan limit. The most well-known guideline is the size of the loan which, for 2022, was generally limited to $647,200 for one-unit single family homes in the continental US. Other guidelines include borrower's loan-to-value ratio, debt-to-income ratio, credit score and history, documentation requirements, etc.

Loan servicing is the process by which a company collects interest, principal, and escrow payments from a borrower. In the United States, the vast majority of mortgages are backed by the government or government-sponsored entities (GSEs) through purchase by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or Ginnie Mae. Because GSEs and private loan investors typically do not service the mortgage loans that they purchase, the bank who sells the mortgage will generally retain the right to service the mortgage pursuant to a master servicing agreement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mortgage</span> Loan secured using real estate

A mortgage loan or simply mortgage, in civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any purpose while putting a lien on the property being mortgaged. The loan is "secured" on the borrower's property through a process known as mortgage origination. This means that a legal mechanism is put into place which allows the lender to take possession and sell the secured property to pay off the loan in the event the borrower defaults on the loan or otherwise fails to abide by its terms. The word mortgage is derived from a Law French term used in Britain in the Middle Ages meaning "death pledge" and refers to the pledge ending (dying) when either the obligation is fulfilled or the property is taken through foreclosure. A mortgage can also be described as "a borrower giving consideration in the form of a collateral for a benefit (loan)".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subprime mortgage crisis</span> 2007 mortgage crisis in the United States

The American subprime mortgage crisis was a multinational financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010 that contributed to the 2007–2008 global financial crisis. The crisis led to a severe economic recession, with millions of people losing their jobs and many businesses going bankrupt. The U.S. government intervened with a series of measures to stabilize the financial system, including the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

A Jumbo mortgage is classified in the United States as a residential mortgage or other home-equity secured loan in an amount greater than $650,000, although lenders differ on just what constitutes a super jumbo mortgage subject to their own internal investment criteria. Super Jumbo mortgages are made available to borrowers whose loan requirements exceed the guidelines commonly referred to as Jumbo loan limits, which apply to mortgage loan amounts in excess of the FNMA / FHLMC conforming loan limits of 417,000. Unlike Jumbo loan limits, the super jumbo mortgage category is not directly defined, controlled, or regulated by any of these aforementioned agencies. Instead, mortgage lenders internally and independently define their own parameters and criteria for what defines a Super Jumbo mortgage. The minimum loan amount for some lenders to classify a loan as Super Jumbo ranges from $500,000 to $1,500,000, with maximum super jumbo loan amounts generally running into the $10,000,000 to $20,000,000 range.

A non-conforming mortgage is a term in the United States for a residential mortgage that does not conform to the loan purchasing guidelines set by the Federal National Mortgage Association /Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. Mortgages which are non-conforming because they have a dollar amount over the purchasing limit set by FNMA/FHLMC are often called "jumbo" mortgages. Mortgages which are non-conforming because they do not meet FNMA/FHLMC underwriting guidelines are sometimes mistakenly called "subprime" mortgages. Non-conforming loans must remain in a lender's portfolio, or be sold to other companies who purchase non-conforming loans, or be securitized, with the securities being sold to investors seeking non-conforming mortgage-backed securities. Consequently, a premium is paid by those obtaining non-conforming mortgages, generally .25 or .5 points more than the same loan would cost if it were conforming. The loan amount is adjusted every few years depending upon the average sales price of homes in the U.S.

Mortgage underwriting is the process a lender uses to determine if the risk of offering a mortgage loan to a particular borrower under certain parameters is acceptable. Most of the risks and terms that underwriters consider fall under the three C's of underwriting: credit, capacity and collateral.

An Alt-A mortgage, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of U.S. mortgage that, for various reasons, is considered riskier than A-paper, or "prime", and less risky than "subprime," the riskiest category. For these reasons, as well as in some cases their size, Alt-A loans are not eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Alt-A interest rates, which are determined by credit risk, therefore tend to be between those of prime and subprime home loans, although there is no single accepted definition of Alt-A. Typically Alt-A mortgages are characterized by borrowers with less than full documentation, average credit scores, higher loan-to-values, and more investment properties and secondary homes. A-minus is related to Alt-A, with some lenders categorizing them the same, but A-minus is traditionally defined as mortgage borrowers with a FICO score of below 680 while Alt-A is traditionally defined as loans lacking full documentation. Alt-A mortgages may have excellent credit but may not meet underwriting criteria for other reasons. During the past decade, a significant amount of Alt-A mortgages resulted from refinancings, rather than property purchases.

The subprime mortgage crisis impact timeline lists dates relevant to the creation of a United States housing bubble and the 2005 housing bubble burst and the subprime mortgage crisis which developed during 2007 and 2008. It includes United States enactment of government laws and regulations, as well as public and private actions which affected the housing industry and related banking and investment activity. It also notes details of important incidents in the United States, such as bankruptcies and takeovers, and information and statistics about relevant trends. For more information on reverberations of this crisis throughout the global financial system see 2007–2008 financial crisis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Causes of the 2000s United States housing bubble</span>

Observers and analysts have attributed the reasons for the 2001–2006 housing bubble and its 2007–10 collapse in the United States to "everyone from home buyers to Wall Street, mortgage brokers to Alan Greenspan". Other factors that are named include "Mortgage underwriters, investment banks, rating agencies, and investors", "low mortgage interest rates, low short-term interest rates, relaxed standards for mortgage loans, and irrational exuberance" Politicians in both the Democratic and Republican political parties have been cited for "pushing to keep derivatives unregulated" and "with rare exceptions" giving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "unwavering support".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008</span> US act of congress to address the subprime mortgage crisis

The United States Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 was designed primarily to address the subprime mortgage crisis. It authorized the Federal Housing Administration to guarantee up to $300 billion in new 30-year fixed rate mortgages for subprime borrowers if lenders wrote down principal loan balances to 90 percent of current appraisal value. It was intended to restore confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by strengthening regulations and injecting capital into the two large U.S. suppliers of mortgage funding. States are authorized to refinance subprime loans using mortgage revenue bonds. Enactment of the Act led to the government conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac</span> Action by the U.S. Treasury to lessen the subprime mortgage crisis

In September 2008, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that it would take over the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. Both government-sponsored enterprises, which finance home mortgages in the United States by issuing bonds, had become illiquid as the market for those bonds collapsed in the subprime mortgage crisis. The FHFA established conservatorships in which each enterprise's management works under the FHFA's direction to reduce losses and to develop a new operating structure that will allow a return to self-management.

The U.S. subprime mortgage crisis was a set of events and conditions that led to a financial crisis and subsequent recession that began in 2007. It was characterized by a rise in subprime mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, and the resulting decline of securities backed by said mortgages. Several major financial institutions collapsed in September 2008, with significant disruption in the flow of credit to businesses and consumers and the onset of a severe global recession.

Loan modification is the systematic alteration of mortgage loan agreements that help those having problems making the payments by reducing interest rates, monthly payments or principal balances. Lending institutions could make one or more of these changes to relieve financial pressure on borrowers to prevent the condition of foreclosure. Loan modifications have been practiced in the United States since the 1930s. During the Great Depression, loan modification programs took place at the state level in an effort to reduce levels of loan foreclosures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mortgage industry of the United States</span>

The mortgage industry of the United States is a major financial sector. The federal government created several programs, or government sponsored entities, to foster mortgage lending, construction and encourage home ownership. These programs include the Government National Mortgage Association, the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation.

The Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) is a federal program of the United States, set up by the Federal Housing Finance Agency in March 2009, to help underwater and near-underwater homeowners refinance their mortgages. Unlike the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), which assists homeowners who are in danger of foreclosure, this program benefits homeowners whose mortgage payments are current, but who cannot refinance due to dropping home prices in the wake of the U.S. housing market correction.

The Making Home Affordable program of the United States Treasury was launched in 2009 as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The main activity under MHA is the Home Affordable Modification Program.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lemke, Lins and Picard, Mortgage-Backed Securities, Chapter 3 (Thomson West, 2013 ed.).
  2. ↑ Full Text of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008
  3. 1 2 Confirmation of Conforming Loan Limits for 2010 - Fannie Mae, November 12, 2009
  4. ↑ Said, Carolyn (26 August 2011). "Big changes on mortgages as 'jumbo' limits drop". SFGate. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  5. ↑ "FHFA Announces Maximum Conforming Loan Limits for 2018 - Federal Housing Finance Agency". www.fhfa.gov. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  6. ↑ Home buyers find it's harder to get jumbo loans amid credit crunch San Francisco Chronicle, August 17, 2007
  7. ↑ Calif. home sales plunge in January Forbes.com, February 14, 2008
  8. ↑ Many Lenders Making Jumbo Loans Have Demanded Higher Rates Gainesville Sun, September 6, 2007
  9. ↑ Jumbo Mortgage ‘Serious Delinquencies’ Rise to 9.6% - Bloomberg.com, February 8, 2010
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