Conventional Loan Limits Increased For Freddie and Fannie

2007 Conforming Loan Limits

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) announced on Tuesday that new limits will apply for loans that can be purchased by the two Government Sponsored Enterprises for which it has oversight.

Effective January 1, 2006, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will be able to purchase single family home mortgages up to a limit of $417,000. This is an increase of 16+ percent from the $357,650 cap for 2005.

The increase was in keeping with figures released earlier in the day by The Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB) reporting that, nationally, the average cost of a one-family house October was $306,759, an increase of 15.96 percent since October 2004.

Mortgages that meet the purchase criteria of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are called �conventional loans� and generally carry lower borrowing costs than non-conventional loans. In addition to the maximum loan amount conventional loans must meet other underwriting standards such as the credit of the borrower.

Other loan limits announced by OFHEA for multi-family houses and the corresponding figures for 2005 are as follows:

	2006	2005
Two units:	$533,850	$460,400
Three units:	$645,300	556,500
Four units:	$801,950	691,600

The limit on conforming second mortgages was raised from $179,825 to $208,500.

The high cost areas of Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, and the U.S. Virgin Island come under a separate schedule with limits 50% higher than for corresponding properties in the continental United States. Second mortgages in those high cost areas will be limited to $208,500.

If tradition holds, the Veterans� Administration and the Federal Home Administration will shortly announce new loan limits which will closely reflect the OFHEO changes.