2009 conforming limit $417,000
November 7, 2008
By MortgageDaily.com staff
A federal regulator has set the 2009 conforming limit at the same level as in 2008. But a program created in recent legislation temporarily pushes the limit past $600,000 in some areas.
The conforming limit will remain at $417,000 next year, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said in a news release today.
Loans purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac secured by single-family residential loans must be within the conforming limit. The limit is $533,850 on two-unit properties, while loans on three-unit properties can go to $645,300 and four-unit properties can be financed up to $801,950.
While home prices had declined 5.9 percent over the 12 months ended Aug. 31, H.R. 3221, the Housing and the Economic Recovery Act of 2008, required that the limits not be decreased.
The recently passed law also increased the conforming to 115 percent of local median house prices, bringing the single-family limit in high-cost areas to $625,500 during 2009.
High-cost loan limits by county are published by FHFA at:
