FHFA Ups Maximum Conforming Loan Limits for 2018

Nov 28, 2017

Today’s launch of the spring homebuying season is being greeted with a new Realtor.com survey that found nearly half of shoppers this season are looking for homes at or under $200,000

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has announced the maximum conforming loan limits for mortgages on one-unit properties to be acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2018 will be $453,100, up from the current level of $424,100.

The FHFA said that in areas where 115 percent of the local median home value exceeds the baseline conforming loan limit, the maximum loan limit will be $679,650 for one-unit properties, or 150 percent of $453,100. Special statutory provisions establish different loan limit calculations for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with the baseline loan limit will be $679,650 for one-unit properties.

According to FHFA's seasonally adjusted, expanded-data Home Price Index, house prices increased 6.8 percent, on average, between the third quarters of 2016 and 2017. As a result, the baseline maximum conforming loan limit in 2018 was adjusted to increase by the same percentage. The maximum conforming loan limit will be higher in 2018 in all but 71 counties or county equivalents, the FHFA added.

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Phil Hall

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Nov 28, 2017

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