{"id":1318559,"date":"2020-03-04T16:35:22","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T23:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=994279"},"modified":"2020-03-04T16:35:22","modified_gmt":"2020-03-04T23:35:22","slug":"real-estate-talk-conforming-loan-limits-rise-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/real-estate-talk-conforming-loan-limits-rise-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Estate Talk: Conforming loan limits rise again"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Ryan Parker<\/strong>
<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Beginning Jan. 1, 2020, conforming loan limits rose for mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac across most of the country. Limits increased by 5.38% to $510,400.<\/p>\n

The 2019 limit was $484,350. Data from Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) shows that home prices increased by an average of 5.38% between the third quarter of 2018 and the third quarter of 2019.<\/p>\n

With the change the baseline maximum conforming loan limit in 2020 increased by the same percentage, resulting in the $510,400 figure as the new baseline.<\/p>\n

For areas in which 115% of the local median home value exceeds the baseline conforming loan limit (high cost areas), the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) sets a \u201cceiling\u201d of 150% of the baseline loan limit. In these counties considered \u201chigh-cost,\u201d the ceiling limit is now $765,500. <\/p>\n

It was the fourth straight year the FHFA increased the limits after not increasing them from 2006 to 2016.<\/p>\n

Since 2008, the federal HERA law requires the FHFA to adjust loan limits for Fannie and Freddie, which are the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) that help ensure the flow of credit in the mortgage system. <\/p>\n

The GSEs do not lend money to the public directly. Instead, they guarantee third-party loans, and purchase loans in the secondary market, thereby providing liquidity for lenders and financial institutions.<\/p>\n

So what does all this \u201cmortgage talk\u201d mean for homebuyers in the Roaring Fork Valley?  <\/p>\n

Simply put, buyers can qualify for more. With the increase in these loan limits, buyers can purchase higher-priced homes without getting into a \u201cJumbo\u201d loan, which has stricter underwriting guidelines and requires a higher down payment.  <\/p>\n

In fact, Garfield and Pitkin counties are considered high cost areas and have a limit of $765,600, followed by Eagle County, which comes in just under with a loan limit of $750,950. Mesa County is at the baseline maximum of $510,400.<\/p>\n

Additionally, and despite the common misconception, there are several low down payment options available.  Conforming loans have down payment options as low as 3% for loans under $510,400; down payments for FHA loans can be as low as 3.5%; and USDA and VA loans are available with $0 down \u2014 with FHA and VA loans capped at the high cost limit for each county. <\/p>\n

Recent changes in Fannie Mae\u2019s underwriting guidelines, along with these increases in loan limits, will afford potential homebuyers in our area a little more flexibility as home values continue to increase.  <\/p>\n

With a limited rental market, and rental rates continuing to increase, this may be a great time to explore the option of purchasing a home.  <\/p>\n

Ryan Parker is a Senior Loan Officer with Bay Equity Home Loans. Parker can be contacted at rparker@bayeq.comor<\/a> 970-309-6850.<\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ryan Parker Beginning Jan. 1, 2020, conforming loan limits rose for mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac across most of the country. Limits increased by 5.38% to $510,400. The 2019 limit was $484,350. Data from Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) shows that home prices increased by an average of 5.38% between the third […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1318559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-05 09:59:32","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1318559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318559\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1318559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1318559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1318559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}