I had a mortgage loan officer from a local bank stop in today to pesonally pass the word that her bank has money available for jumbo loans at 6.87% with no points. This is way better than rates have been (8+% with 2 points) since the collapse of the secondary market some months back. (Jumbo loans are loans over $417,000.) This is a limited program -- once the money is gone, it is gone.
The loan officer also wanted to assure us that, even with all of the talk of financial crisis, plenty of money is available for conforming (under $417,000, 10% down) 30 year residential mortgages. Underwriting standards have tightened up, though, meaning higher credit scores are required than in recent years past. But the money is there to be loaned out.