Maybe a surprise here? Maybe not? For the 5th straight year the national single unit conforming mortgage loan limit is $417,000. This surprised me a bit, I thought there was a chance that this number would have been increased for 2010 given how Banks are now processing Jumbo Mortgages. Bigger down payments, higher Credit scores and much higher reserve requirements or the conventional Jumbo mortgage limit could have been increased. (More to come in the Blog on this)
A conforming loan limit is a maximum loan amount that conforms with the current underwriting guidelines set forth by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Loans in excess of this/these loans amounts are considered “Jumbo” Mortgages.
The 2010 conforming loan limits, as released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, are:
- 1 – Unit properties : $417,000
- 2 – Unit properties : $533,850
- 3 – Unit Properties : $645,300
- 4 – Unit Properties : $801,950
However, to make things even more confusing, conforming loan limits don’t apply to all geographies, they vary by market. The government has deemed certain (usually metropolitan) areas as “high cost”. In these areas, conforming loan limits can go as high as $729,750. Housing costs in Grerater Boston are generally considered to be among the highest in the nation. Yet as a rule of thumb, Greater Boston’s conforming high loan size limit is just $523,750. Hey Washington, get a clue!
Please check the Fannie Mae Website to find your area’s conforming loan limit.
If you have any questions about conforming loans or other mortgage or real estate topic, give me a shout! bc@SmarterBorrowing.com 617.771.5021
bc@smarterborrowing.com
617.771.5021
