mortgage broker

Everyone had hoped that rewriting the definition of conforming would make loans this size about half an interest point more than true conforming loans. Instead, the gap is still about a full point and sometimes even more. Brokers mentioned [jumbo conforming] rates hovering around 7 percent. Some borrowers report being quoted even-higher rates, upward of 7.5 percent.

"I have a pipeline filled with people who can't (refinance) because these ... jumbo lights are useless," Marc Savoy, a mortgage broker with San Francisco Pacific Mortgage Consultants, wrote in an e-mail. "The qualifying guidelines are onerous (i.e., income, credit and equity) and the rates are up toward 7 percent. Who's that going to help? Not many people.