Cobb Real Estate Blog

An advisory panel, set forth by President Bush, announced this week that they are considering the elimination or lowering of two tax breaks; home mortgage interest rate deductions and employer-paid health insurance. While President Bush still wants to promote home ownership, the panel said Tuesday, “that while preserving tax incentives for home buyers is important, it was considering changes necessary to address issues of fairness and economic growth.”

Currently, a married couple filing jointly can deduct the interest on up to $1,000,000 of mortgage debt. The panel has set forth suggested lowered limits. One possibilty being setting the limit at the maximum mortage figure that can be guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration. The FHA loan limits vary throughout the country, from $160,176 in low-cost areas to more than $300,000 in high-cost areas. The limit in Cobb County is $227,905.

Bush Panel Mulls Curbs on Mortgage Deduction [Smartmoney.com]
No more mortgage deductions [Christopher Fox Economic Views]
It Would Certainly Take Care of Those Pesky Real Estate Bubbles, Though [San Francisco Real Estate Blog]

Here’s the latest numbers on interest rates:

• Mortgages - 5.88% (30 Year Fixed)
• Home Equity Lines - 6.76%
• Auto Loans - 8.00% (48 Month - New Car)
• CD - 3.00% (One Year Yield)
• Credit Card - 12.89% (Standard Fixed)

Bankrate.com [Source]

Each week, Bankrate.com has a panel of experts discuss where they think mortgage rates will be in the next 30-45 days. This week the consensus is; “Mortgage rates look fairly stable, but they might fall”, in the next 4-6 weeks.