"Jumbo" mortgages become even more costly...

I can't imagine ever being able to be a home with a mortgage of over $417,000 but those who do? Can expect to pay higher interest rates than before for what is called "jumbo" home loans. The NPR story has more but some of the details:

A "jumbo" mortgage is one that is bigger than $417,000, which is the maximum that can be guaranteed by the government-backed agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Because of this, jumbo loans typically carry a slightly higher interest rate than smaller loans. But this month, the gap widened to nearly a full percentage point.

The average rate on a 30-year jumbo loan is now well over 7 percent, with some banks charging as much as 10 percent. Greg McBride, of Bankrate.com, says even though jumbo loans have not been plagued by a rash of defaults like subprime mortgages, the investors who bankroll the loans are still nervous.