Want a good mortgage rate? Be a millionaire!
Want to get a good rate on a new mortgage? Two tips: Be wealthy, and borrow more.
For the first time in recent memory, lenders are offering well-heeled buyers large “jumbo” mortgages at the same — or even better — interest rates as smaller loans. The trend has helped fuel a resurgence at the high end of the real estate market. Sales of homes priced $1 million or more are soaring as lower-priced properties lag, accentuating the uneven nature of the economic recovery.
The share of homes selling for at least $1 million fell when the 2008 financial crisis hit, but it recovered faster than the rest of the market during the past two years. It now hovers at a level last seen near the housing boom’s peak in 2007, according to research firm CoreLogic. The rates help, and so does a robust stock market. The number of homes sold for $1 million or more climbed 8 percent this year while those at every other price point combined fell 4 percent, according to the National Association of Realtors.
“Many people are finding out by accident that they can often get a better rate on a $700,000 mortgage than a $400,000 mortgage,” said Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance. “The opportunities for wealthier borrowers are now better than they’ve been in a decade as far as rates and terms.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/buyers-of-houses-priced-at-the-high-end-are-seeing-attractive-mortgage-rates/2014/11/07/da2ae312-4d68-11e4-8c24-487e92bc997b_story.html
For years, the reverse was true: jumbo loans came with higher interest rates than smaller loans.
Just another perk of being a member of the moneyed class.
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