FHA treats short sales, deeds in lieu, etc all the same as foreclosures when it comes to guides and they require 3 years before a borrower can qualify for a loan. Fannie has the new short sale guideline that requires 2 years before a borrower can qualify and 5-7 years for foreclosures. Speaking of FHA, remember that Mortgagee Letter 2009-07 establishes the new FHA loan limits set forth by the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009. Things to note: new loan limits are for FHA loans that receive approval in calendar year 2009, not farther out; changes apply to the 203b (basic loan), 203h (disaster victims), & 203k (rehab loan); the national FHA floor limit remains at 271,050; the FHA ceiling for high value areas is 729,750; lastly the national reverse mortgage limit increases from 417,000 to 625,500. For the limit in your area, check https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/hicostlook.cfm
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This morning the US GDP number (the sum of all goods and services produced by the economy) was expected to be -5.4%. It actually fell at an annual rate of 6.2% in the 4th quarter, the deepest slide since the first quarter of 1982. It should be no surprise that consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of domestic economic activity, dropped at a 4.3 percent rate, the biggest fall since the second quarter of 1980.  This, combined with stocks being hit by the Citi news, has brought the 10-yr yield back down to 2.93% and mortgage prices better by roughly .125. Later on we’ll see the Chicago Purchasing Manager’s Survey for February, expected to slide further after January’s decline, and the University of Michigan’s Consumer Confidence Survey – as if that is going to be positive and move the market.