American Mortgage Blog

During his State of the Union Address, President Obama made several comments directed at housing, and at the mortgage market. In particular, he announced that he will send Congress a plan that will allow responsible homeowners who are current on their payments to save $3,000 a year on their mortgage by refinancing. If this plan requires Congressional approval, it will probably have a very low likelihood of succeeding in 2012.

Up until a few years ago, few people outside of the mortgage industry knew what a FICO score was. Now, it seems that many people make decisions purely based on how something may or may not impact their credit scores, which in turn impacts their ability to borrow. As a quick refresher, the score is representative of how the borrower has upheld their debt obligations in the past. But of great interest now is answering the question, “Did your credit score drop in the last few years?”

Congress voted, and the president signed, a bill re-increasing the FHA loan ceiling. Fannie and Freddie, better known for conventional conforming loans, were not so fortunate: their maximum one-unit loan limit stayed put at $625,500. It was reduced to that level on October 1 from the previous $729,750.