******   Conforming Jumbo CHANGE 12/1/08   ******

We know the conforming jumbo limit was going to change on 1/1/09 to $625,500, however just recently I've learned from some banks that the last day to close a loan for $729,750 is on 12/1/08 (for some other banks the last day will be in mid-November). What this means is that if your loan is greater than $625,500 and you can't reduce it to this amount, you have to act fast to refinance that loan into a 30 year fixed. Loans are taking about 30 days to close right now, so the latest time to have a complete package with appraisal to me would be October 31, 2008.

Here some pricing scenarios:

Scenario 1: $729,750 loan amount, Loan to Value 80%, FICO 700, on a no-closing cost 30 yr fixed:

                   Rate    7.250%          APR 7.250%

Scenario 2: $729,750 loan amount, Loan to Value 75%, FICO 720, on a no-closing cost 30 yr fixed:

                   Rate   6.500%           APR 6.500%

Scenario 3: $729,750 loan amount, Loan to Value 60%, FICO 700, on a no-closing cost 30 yr fixed:

                   Rate   6.375%           APR 6.375%

If you're loan is less than $625,500 you don't have to do anything right now, but for those with higher amounts, who will be going to float you should consider acting now.