Freddie Issues Jumbo Guidance

Freddie Mac is telling its lenders that it will start purchasing "conforming jumbos" in May and that jumbo loans originated "retroactive to March 1" will be accepted for delivery. In issuing interim guidance on the new jumbo program, the secondary-market agency laid out the loan-to-value ratios on fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgages and the delivery fees. "For deliveries in the May/June timeframe, we expect to offer 90-day pricing and credit coverage for newly originated conforming jumbos using a guarantor execution," Freddie Mac said. Freddie will allow jumbo borrowers to take out $100,000 in a refinancing, but the GSE is charging a 1.0% fee, with a 50-basis-point fee on no-cash-out refinancings. Fannie Mae is limiting cash-out refinancings to $2,000. Freddie's standard delivery fee for a fixed-rated mortgage is 25 bps, and 75 bps for a jumbo ARM. But a jumbo ARM with an LTV ratio above 80% would have a 1.50% fee.