Conforming limits for loans backed by the government-sponsored enterprises have been released for next year, and nearly 40 counties will see an increase in maximum loan amounts.
The maximum loan amount on mortgages acquired by the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. is determined by the conforming limit.
The baseline loan limit was established at $417,000 by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. No increases can be made until home prices return to pre-decline levels.
On Wednesday, Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s regulator and conservator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, announced that the conforming loan limit will remain at $417,000 in 2016 for one-unit properties.
“FHFA has determined that the average U.S. home value in the third quarter of this year remained below its level in the third quarter of 2007,” the announcement said.
That leaves the limit at $533,850 on duplexes, $645,300 on three-unit residential properties and $801,950 on four-unit
properties.
However, 39 U.S. counties have seen enough price increases over the past year to qualify for high-cost loan limits as high as $625,500.
In Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, conforming loan limits are 50 percent more than the baseline limit, putting the limit on one-unit properties at $625,500 — though some areas of Hawaii go as high as $721,050.
