Government News

	OFHEO letters informing the Enterprises of the loan limit calculations [pdf]

Armando Falcon, Jr., Director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), today announced the maximum 2005 conforming loan limit for single family mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This limit, after the customary rounding down to the nearest $50, can be no higher than $359,650 for one-unit properties.

Effective January 1, 2005, the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conforming loan limits, subjected to the customary rounding, applies as follows:

One-unit mortgages are limited to	$395,650
Two-unit mortgages	$460,400
Three-unit mortgages	$556,500
Four-unit mortgages	$691,600

The limit in statutorily designated high-cost areas (Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) will be 50 percent higher, for example, $539,475 for a one-unit single family mortgage. For second mortgages, the 2005 limit will be $179,825. In the designated high-cost areas this will be $269,725.

The charters of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac permit an annual adjustment to the maximum size of mortgage loans the Enterprises may purchase. The maximum adjustment is based on the change in the national single family house price as determined by the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB), from its Monthly Interest Rate Survey (MIRS).

Source: OFHEO