Fannie Mae Announces New Loan Limit
Fannie Mae announced today that it will apply new conforming loan limits on single-family mortgages in 2006. The new limit will be $417,000 and is determined by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), based on federal data on average home prices nationwide.
As a result of the new loan limit, the company estimates that as many as an additional 466,326 homeowners would be eligible for a conforming loan next year. This figure would include those wishing to apply for a Florida home loan, whether it were of a fixed-rate or adjustable-rate variety.
Conforming loan limits may adjust annually. These adjustments are based on the October-to-October changes in the mean home price, as published by the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB). The FHFB figures come from its monthly survey of lenders, which takes into account both new and existing homes.
New limits were also set multi-unit loans for 2006 as follows:
- Two-family loans: $533,850
- Three-family loans: $645,300
- Four-family loans: $801,950.
- The 2006 loan limit for second mortgages will be $208,500.
Most loans Fannie Mae purchases are well below the conforming limit. The average loan size for single-family properties in the first three quarters of 2005 has been about $172,000.
