| Special Report |
| HUD Releases New FHA, Conforming Loan Limits The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today published new FHA and conforming loan limits, based on median home prices as mandated by the Economic Stimulus Act signed by President Bush in February. New loan limits for FHA and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now calculated at 125 percent of the HUD published median prices, with a floor of $271,050 and $417,000, respectively, not to exceed $729,750. NAR expects the impact on the housing market to be significant because of the infusion of capital into the mortgage market, which should result in lower interest rates across the board. In addition, there will be a direct impact on high-cost areas that previously required borrowers to take out costlier jumbo mortgages. The new FHA loan limits can be accessed online. To find the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conforming loan limits, on the HUD site choose “Fannie/Freddie” in the drop-down menu called “Limit Type.”"We believe the economic stimulus bill will quickly have an impact on families and the nation’s economy. The loan limits for both FHA and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been increased and this will act as a major stimulus for the housing industry and for those people wishing to own a home,” says Richard Gaylord, NAR president. What This Means for Housing, REALTORS®, and the Economy An economic impact study conducted by NAR in January 2008 estimated that increasing the GSEs’ conforming loan limits would result in as many as 500,000 refinanced loans and could help reduce foreclosures by as much as 210,000. In addition, over 300,000 additional home sales could be generated, housing inventory would be reduced and home prices would be strengthened by two to three percentage points. Why HUD Took This Action How HUD Calculates Its Median Home Prices Who Will be Affected |
Archive for March 7th, 2008
Member Legal Services has published a revised legal article, REO Transactions (March 5, 2008). It is available on Legal’s What’s New and the Legal Articles pages on C.A.R. Online. This article has been updated to clarify the ways of advertising cooperating agent commission on the MLS when offering less than a percentage of the gross sales price as commission. In particular, Question 29 has been revised.
