I just received this memo from Washington Mutual:

Please be aware that most of King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties are now considered to be in a “soft market.” This means that your LTV max will be reduced by 5% from the normal established maximum if your loan is in a soft market on a conforming loan (ie, our Flex 100 will now be countered to 95% LTV if your loan is in a soft market).

WaMu has provided a calculator to determine if your zip code is “soft”…yes, Billiruben, even my West Seattle zip is soft…so is Bellevue and every other zip code I’ve popped in their system.

About a week or so ago, Chase issued a memo (for second mortgages/home equity loans) that Pierce, Thurston and Clark Counties have a -5% factor and Asotin has a factor of -10%.

PMI Mortgage Insurance Company will no longer insure loans over 97% loan-to-value and are limiting the loan to value to 90% in “distressed markets”.

The photo is of my 12 year old cat, Louise. She’s soft.