On Aug 18, 2007, at 2:53 PM, Eubulides wrote:
> [So the wealthy are kind of screwing each other and yet another
> disposition of
> trickle-down econ. policy does the rest.........]
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/18/business/18fed.html
> Fed policy makers and Treasury officials said that in cutting the
> discount rate,
> the Fed's principal goal was to shore up the market for
> creditworthy mortgages,
> including those for more expensive homes.
>
> While that market is primarily for more affluent borrowers, Fed
> officials said
> they were worried that average Americans would suffer, too, if the
> troubles in
> the so-called jumbo mortgage market infected the rest of the
> economy. The
> collapse of so many subprime mortgage securities had spread to the
> larger
> market, and lenders of high-quality mortgages were having trouble
> selling the
> loans they made.
The limit on so-called conforming mortgages, which is what Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae can buy, is $417,000. In a lot of markets in this country, a $500,000 house is not luxurious. The median price in your neck of the woods, Seattle, is about $420,000.
Doug