re: 30 year mortgage rates.

For the uninitiated, Jumbo Loans (also known as Alt-A or Alternative-A Financing) refers to mortgages that are higher than the typical, Fannie/Freddie federal guideline limits for single family homes. I believe the limit has been $417,000 for many years now.

They're riskier than "A paper" (obviously where the Alternative A comes in) but they aren't sub prime. They are considered a non-conforming loan. But for any amount over $417K they are a necessity.

They're typically a tad higher than regular Fannie/Freddie rates due to the non-conformity of the product (due to loan value or documentation requirements etc) and also typically require more expensive appraisals, or sometimes multiple appraisals. They're looked at a tad more closely than a normal loan package-but not overly so-and depending on the situation can be very competitive with conforming, conventional financing options.