Conforming Jumbo Loans for Half Moon Bay Coastside Homes

Post from new Site Contributor – Mortgage Advisor, Shashank Shekhar…  Thank you Shashank!


Conforming Jumbo Loans are great options for Renters/Buyers ready to purchase or current  Homeowners considering a refinance in the Half Moon Bay Coastside area of San Mateo County.

Conforming loans are so called because they “conform” to the guidelines of Government Sponsored Enterprises – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  When banks fund conforming loans, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy these loans from them in the secondary market.  This way the banks have more funds to lend.  Basic conforming loan limit is $417,000.  A couple of years back, Government decided to increase the Conforming loan limit in some high priced counties to $729,750.  The loan amount between $417,001 and $729,750 is now known as conforming jumbo loans.  San Mateo is one of the counties which is considered to be a high priced county and hence qualifies for the $729,750 loan limit.  By virtue of being in San Mateo County, home loans in Half Moon Bay also qualify for this loan limit.

These loans are available for Primary Residence, 2nd homes and also for purchasing or refinancing Investment properties.  If you have excellent credit, you may qualify to buy a house as Primary Residence with as little as 5% down payment.  Another benefit of such loans is that the interest rates are much lower than the Jumbo loans (Loan Amount $729,751 and higher).  As of writing this post, the average rates for conforming jumbo loans were in 5.25% range.  At 5.25% on a $729,750 loan amount, your monthly mortgage payment for a Half Moon Bay Home Purchase or Refinance loan would be $4030.  Note that if you put down less than 20% down payment, you will also have to pay for Mortgage Insurance.

The interest rates have been going up over last couple of months and there is also a talk of the loan amounts to be reduced to $625,000 from the current $729,750.  So if you are looking to purchase or Refinance in this price range, now may be a good time to move forward.  Jump over to Marian Bennett’s featured listings or all the Coastside and Pacifica homes for sale and to see if anything catches your attention.  She also has access to some properties that are not on the MLS/web.

If you would like to evaluate your loan options for a home purchase or refinance in Half Moon Bay-Coastside area, I will be glad to offer a free consultation.  Feel free to reach out to me at 650.793.6833 or shashank@arcuslending.com.