Utah Obama Refinance To 125% Announced
Anyone living in Utah who owed more than 105% couldn’t refinance their home — before today’s announcement by HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. Today, it was announced that anyone who wanted to refinance but was previously prohibited because they owed more than 105% of what their home was worth could now refinance up to 125% of the home’s value. The change from 105% to 125% in the Making Home Affordable plan is just another step that the Obama administration is taking to help prevent foreclosures across America.
Both right here in Utah as well as all over the US, there will now be thousands of people who currently owe more than 105% of their home’s value take advantage of lower rates while they are available. Now, with the Obama 125% refinance people living in Utah can refinance their home as long as they don’t owe more than 125% of what the home is worth.
According to a story found in CNN:
The move acknowledges that home prices in many areas have fallen so far that many people were shut out of the program. Some 67% of homeowners in Las Vegas — one of the hardest hit areas where Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan announced the expansion Wednesday — owe more than their homes are worth.
More than one in five borrowers are now underwater, with homes in parts of California and Florida losing more than 50% of their value, according to Zillow.com, a real estate Web site. Some 20 million people own homes worth less than their mortgages.
“The president’s Making Home Affordable plan is already helping far more than any previous foreclosure initiative and with today’s announcement we will extend its reach still further,” said Donovan.
A story at Bloomberg said:
The decision to change the allowable ratio is part of an effort to “adapt to an ever-changing housing market,” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in the HUD statement. “By expanding refinance eligibility, we can bring relief to more struggling homeowners more quickly.”
Paul Miller, an analyst with FBR Capital Markets in Arlington, Virginia, said mortgage brokers have told him that many aren’t sending borrowers through the program because it’s cumbersome and the loan applications “still have a lot of bells and whistles, which makes them difficult to do.”
What This Means For People In Utah
Although it is somewhat difficult to tell exactly how many people in Utah will benefit from this change, there are surely many people right here in Utah who will now be able to refinance and be able to affordably stay in their homes. To find out if you qualify under the recent Obama refinance guideline changes, be sure to contact your local Utah mortgage expert today.
