Huge jump in Mortgage Loan Limits

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Home buyers in Essex County and Suffolk County received a major boost this week with the announcement that the limit for conforming mortgages was being increased by 18% from $523,250 to $598,000.

For a buyer putting down 20% the price of a home that can be financed conventionally – meaning that it can be sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac – jumps by almost $100,000, from $654,063 to $747,500.

This table shows the trend in the last few years:

Mortgage loan limits

Source: FHFA

The U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has raised the maximum limit on mortgages Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can acquire in 2017, the first increase since 2006, as home prices have risen above their third-quarter 2007 levels. Under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, FHFA could not increase the baseline loan limit until the average home price returned to its third-quarter 2007 levels.

The 2017 maximum “conforming” loan limit for one-unit properties will increase to $424,100 from $417,000, or by 1.7%,  as home prices in Q3 2016 were 1.7% higher than in Q3 2007.
Since 2008, various legislative acts increased the loan limits in certain high-cost areas where median home prices exceed the baseline loan limit.  A permanent formula was established under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA).
The 2017 loan limits have been set under the HERA formula. The new ceiling loan limit in these areas will be $636,150, or 150 percent of $424,100.

Here is a table showing the 2017 limits for Massachusetts by County for 1,2,3 and 4 unit buildings:

Mortgage loan limits

If you are considering selling your home please contact me on 617.834.8205 or [email protected] for a free market analysis and explanation of the outstanding marketing program I offer.

Not sure which broker to use to sell your home? Read  Which broker should I choose to sell my house?

If you are looking to buy, I will contact you immediately when a house that meets your needs is available. In this market you need to have somebody looking after your interests.

Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated

@OliverReports

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