$729,750 Conforming Loans: Going, Going…Soon to be Gone!

October 22nd, 2008 By StaceyFleece

Back in February of this year (wow…doesn’t that seem SO long ago), the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 was enacted and part of that Act was to temporarily increase the loan limit on mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to 125% of the average cost of a home, county-by-county, to a maximum of $729,750. Of course, because of our higher housing costs, most of the Bay Area counties qualified for that maximum. However, the Economic Stimulus Act only put that that increase into play temporarily…until December 31, 2008.

We are rapidly approaching that deadline and lenders are going to shut that pipeline down in late November/early December in order to give them time to package the loans and deliver them to Fannie/Freddie before the end of the year. In other words, we probably only have about 6-7 weeks left to offer these higher conforming loan limits to borrowers!!

If you have any real estate financing to complete that would involve a loan for $729,750 or less, it is imperative that you start your process as soon as possible in order to take advantage of this program as time is running short!

We are hearing that there will still be some sort of high limit conforming loan amount in 2009 but it will probably drop to something closer to $625,000. Stay tuned…

Stacey Fleece is a Mortgage Loan Consultant with Countrywide Home Loans in Mill Valley.