Daily Real Estate News

It’s still difficult for buyers to get jumbo mortgages, but it appears to be easier than it was six months ago.

Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are cutting rates somewhat, buying jumbo loans made by other lenders and purchasing them from brokers. One factor is that jumbo loans are not subject to new appraisal rules that are slowing much of the lending market.

“The whole jumbo market has improved in the last 90 days,” says Terry Erwin, chief lending officer for KeyPoint Credit Union, a jumbo lender founded in 1979 to serve electronics industry workers in California’s Silicon Valley.

Erwin says the most frequently selected loans at his company are 5/1 hybrid ARMs, which carry a fixed rate for five years before converting to a loan that adjusts annually.