Industry News

FHA 2003 Mortgage Limit Also Rises

The 2003 Single Family Loan Limit for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be $322,700, up from this year's $300,700. The Federal Housing Finance Board today announced the results of its Monthly Interest Rate Survey for October 2002, which includes the average one-family house purchase price for October, the statutory index for calculating the conforming loan limits. The October 2002 one-family house purchase price average is $235,700 up from last year's $219,600.

This year's loan limits involve a straight calculation based on the statutory formula, which looks at the October to October change in the home price index.

The 2003 conforming loan limits are:

One-Family	$322,700
Two-Family	$413,100
Three-Family	$499,300
Four-Family	$620,500

Under the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Charter Acts, the loan limits are 50% higher for first mortgages in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The base FHA Loan Limit is indexed at 48% of the conforming loan limit and will be $154,896 in 2003. The maximum FHA one-family loan limit for "high cost" areas, indexed at 87% of the conforming loan limit, will increase to $280,749. The VA loan limit is set independently of the conforming loan limits.