[credit: The Onion, natch]
More tales of woe from the local mortgage market this morning courtesy this Times report that the jumbo market is feeling the strain. A jumbo mortgage is anything in excess of $417k, which means in Manhattan, they just call it a mortgage. The news is that about 10% of new mortgagors are getting less favorable terms than they'd hoped, which doesn't sound too crunchworthy to us. Still, it's enough for Keith Kantrowitz, a mortgage banker from Lake Success, N.Y. to opine, “It’s the end of an era of highly leveraged lending on residential apartments in Manhattan." In other news, the Fed just cut the discount rate, so we're not ready to get in the lifeboat just yet.
· Mortgage Ills Start to Strain Homebuying in Manhattan [NYT]
· In Surprise Move, Fed Cuts Key Rate [NYT]
· Fed Cuts Rate at Discount Window [Dealbreaker]