Reducing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s loan limits would fly in the face of congressional policies, the National Association of Realtors maintains in a letter to the mortgage giants’ federal regulator, which is reportedly planning to reduce the conforming loan limit on Jan. 1.
The conforming loan limit is $417,000 in most parts of the country, although Fannie and Freddie can back loans of up to $625,000 in higher-priced markets, and up to $721,050 in Hawaii.
Regulators backed down from a 2007 proposal to reduce the conforming loan limit to reflect home price declines after NAR and other groups objected. Source: blogs.wsj.com