Maximum Conforming Limits to Remain Unchanged in the First Nine Months of 2011

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has announced that, under terms set forth in a recently-enacted Congressional continuing resolution (Public Law Number 111-242), the maximum conforming loan limits for mortgages originated in the first nine months of 2011 will remain unchanged from existing loan limits for 2010 originations. Those limits are generally $417,000, but can be as much as $729,750 in certain high-cost areas in the contiguous United States. The maximum loan limits for counties across the United States can be found here. Under the continuing resolution, the highest loan limits that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may set for mortgages originated during the federal government’s Fiscal Year 2011—which extends through September 2011—are to be equal to the higher of the maximums determined under the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 (ESA) and the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA). While the former limits are fixed dollar amounts, the HERA limits are updated each year. In setting loan limits for FY2011-originated mortgages, FHFA thus calculated 2011 HERA loan limits and compared the resulting values to limits established under ESA, which tend to be much higher. FHFA has found that the resulting maximum limits are the same as existing loan limits in every area of the country. For more information, visit www.fhfa.gov.