Articles you should read- FHA to lower mortgage insurance fees; High End sales are surging and New Fannie Mae program could foul up appraisals

FHA to lower mortgage insurance fees 

The Federal Housing Administration will lower its fees for mortgage insurance to encourage purchases by first-time and middle-income home buyers. The annual premiums will drop to .85% from 1.35% of the total loan amount. The average borrower will save about $7500 over a decade of payments under the new fee plan.

Article: FHA to lower mortgage insurance fees 

New Fannie Mae program could negatively impact appraisals

Starting Jan. 26, Fannie Mae plans to offer mortgage lenders access to proprietary home valuation databases that they can use to assess the accuracy of and risks posed by the reports submitted by appraisers. The Fannie data will flag possible errors in the appraiser's work before the lender commits to fund the loan, score the appraisal for overall risk of inaccuracy and may provide as many as 20 alternative comparables. This new layer to the process is predicted to delay closings and add higher costs to the appraisal besides causing potential valuation conflicts if Fannie’s data is not able to recognize differences between adjacent neighborhoods.

Article: New Fannie Mae program could bust deals, appraisers say

High End sales are surging 

The high end is hopping in Southern California. The number of homes bought for $2 million or more in recent months is the highest on record. Sales worth $10 million or more doubled their number from the heights of the housing bubble.

Article: High end home sales are surging in Southern California