
FHFA Keeps Conforming Loan Limits Unchanged, Mostly
The Federal Housing Finance Agency last week said maximum conforming loan limits for mortgages acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will remain at existing levels in 2016, except for 39 high-cost counties that will see increases.
For most of the country, the conforming loan limit will remain at $417,000 for one-unit properties. For 39 specific high-cost counties in which home values increased over the past year, the maximum conforming loan limit for 2016 adjusted upward.
Four are in California; 11 are in the Denver area; seven are in the Boston area; 14 are in the Nashville area; and three are in the Seattle area. The list can be found at http://www.fhfa.gov/DataTools/Downloads/Documents/Conforming-Loan-Limits/Counties_with_increases_cy2016_Final.pdf.
In keeping the loan limits at $417,000, FHFA determined that the average U.S. home value in the third quarter remained below its level in third quarter 2007.
FHFA’s addendum, Calculation of 2016 Maximum Conforming Loan Limits Under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act, which provides a description of methodology used for determining the maximum loan limits, can be accessed at http://www.fhfa.gov/Media/PublicAffairs/PublicAffairsDocuments/ConfLoanLimits_Addendum_11252015.pdf.