Good news for investors:  Price & Company Realty obtained a copy of a letter from James Lockhart, conservator of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), to Charles McMillan, President of the National Association of Realtors.  (You can read the letter here.)

As you know, Fannie and Freddie recently lowered the number of allowable investor properties from ten to four.  This new limit forced many investors away from Fannie and Freddie’s standard loans and into higher cost investor loans and “hard money” financing.  The change was the last straw for many Myrtle Beach real estate investors, who threw in the towel and are now standing on the sidelines waiting for something to happen.

In the letter, Lockhart promises that Fannie and Freddie are now reconsidering that change, which “reflects an appreciation of the role for investors in the housing recovery.”

Because we in the Myrtle Beach area are so investor-heavy, this would be a welcome, and much-appreciated, ray of hope.

We’ve been asked a number of times over the last few days for our opinion on all the hullabaloo about the mortgage market. With the news inundated by stories about government takeovers and bailouts and weird names like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and mortgage-backed securities… it’s enough for most consumers to just cover their ears, shake their heads and walk away.

As usual… Price & Company Realty to the rescue!

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson made it explicitly clear over the weekend, that the Federal Reserve has absolutely no intention of allowing our mortgage market to implode, and the Fed will do whatever it takes to maintain stability.

2. How to fix the underlying causes of this mess in the first place is something that the next Congress, not the Fed, will have to address.

3. Most importantly, as a result of the Fed’s actions over the weekend, rates on the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage dropped significantly.  One large bank went from 6.25% to 5.625%.  Another went from 6.5% to 5.75%.

So… if interest rates were keeping you from jumping into the Myrtle Beach real estate market… now is the time!