Fannie and Freddie Loan Limits going up in 2018

Here’s a good sign for home prices.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Nov. 28, 2017 that the maximum conforming loan limits for mortgages acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2018 will be $453,100, an increase from $424,100 in 2017.

When FHFA upped it from $417,000 to $424,100 for 2017, it had been a decade since the conforming loan limits had increased. Now, we have two consecutive years with raising limits for conventional loans.

According to FHFA, house prices increased on average 6.8 percent between the third quarters of 2016 and 2017, so the baseline maximum conforming loan limit in 2018 will increase by the same percentage.  The Housing and Economic Recovery Act requires the baseline conforming loan limit be adjusted each year for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reflect the change in the average U.S. home price.

According to FHFA, “As a result of generally rising home values, the increase in the baseline loan limit, and the increase in the ceiling loan limit, the maximum conforming loan limit will be higher in 2018 in all but 71 counties or county equivalents in the U.S.”

The threshold for jumbo loans in high-cost areas will also rise in 2018. In many places, the limits for conforming loans will increase to $679,650 (150 percent of $453,100) for one-unit properties. For more information, go to www.FannieMae.com/SingleFamily/Loan-Limits.

In Florida, only Monroe county has a higher maximum conforming loan limit above $453,100, at $529,000.

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