The video focuses on people too poor to move, but here in the U.S. many can afford to move but don’t. A snapshot of 2010 showed that 59% of us lived in the same state in which we were born, per the Census Bureau. Louisiana came in 1st with almost 80% of its residents being born there, followed by MI (77%), OH, and PA. At the other end of things, AK, AZ, FL, NV, and Washington DC all had less than 40% of their residents being born in that state. (Nevada was less than 25%.)

Congress passed a bill, and President Obama signed it, that allows the FHA to back mortgages of up to $729,500, six weeks after the limit dropped to $625,500. The move makes it easier for more buyers to get low-interest FHA loans. Obviously members of Congress had trouble letting Freddie & Fannie take on any more risk given the billions in taxpayer money that have gone their way. The two agencies are politically toxic, but legislators felt pressure to re-raise the limit, so compromised by raising the FHA limit. Loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will continue to have a $625,500 limit. Loans that exceed the Fannie, Freddie and FHA limits move into the jumbo realm, as we know, where 30-yr mortgages carry higher interest rates and require 20% or more down. FHA programs usually allow lower down payments and are more forgiving of imperfect credit, but also carry higher fees, so more-affluent buyers tend to prefer Fannie and Freddie loans when they qualify for them. Critics are quick to wonder about extending a high LTV loan at a low interest rate under the FHA program rather than a Fannie or Freddie program, but so be it.