Expensive Mortgages To Lose Federal Backing

New York, NY, May 12, 2011 -- The federal government plans to scale back its support of high end mortgages, which could further depress sales at the upper end of the market and lead to more foreclosures, according to a story in the New York Times.

For the last three years, federal agencies have backed new mortgages as large as $729,750 in desirable neighborhoods in high-cost states, the Times reported.

But now politicians from both parties agree that the taxpayer should no longer be responsible for homes valued well above the national average and will test whether the private mortgage market can once again go it alone.