Loan Program Options

Fannie Mae Announces 2005 Conforming Loan Limit of $359,650

WASHINGTON, DC -- Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE), the nation's largest source of financing for home mortgages, today announced that it will apply new conforming loan limits, as determined by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) based on federal data on mean (average) home prices, to increase its single-family mortgage loan limit to $359,650 for 2005.

As a result of the new loan limit, Fannie Mae estimates that in 2005, as many as an additional 271,524 homeowners would be eligible for a conforming loan.

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Conforming loan limits may adjust annually. The conforming loan limits adjustments are based on the October-to-October changes in the mean (average) home price, as published by the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB). The FHFB figures come from its monthly survey of lenders. Both new and existing homes are included in the survey.

Limits for multi-unit loans for 2005 will be as follows: two-family loans $460,400; three-family loans $556,500; and four-family loans to $691,600. The 2005 loan limit for second mortgages will be $179,825.

The maximum amounts for one-to-four-family mortgages and second mortgages in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands are 50 percent higher than the limits for the rest of the country.

Most loans Fannie Mae purchases are well below the conforming limit. Our average loan size for single-family properties in 2004 is about $160,000.

FREDDIE MAC ANNOUNCES YEAR 2005 LOAN PURCHASE LIMITS

New Limits Will Save Borrowers Up to $24,800 In Interest

McLean, VA — Freddie Mac today announced an increase in its single-family mortgage loan limit from $333,700 to $359,650 effective January 1, 2005. This increase in conforming loan limits is based on the October-to-October changes in the average house prices, as published by the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB), and on Supervisory Guidance issued by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. The FHFB figures come from its monthly survey of lenders. Both new and existing homes are included in the survey.

The increase in the single-family mortgage loan limit makes it possible for an estimated 340,000 additional families to obtain lower cost mortgage financing. Freddie Mac estimates that total mortgage interest savings for a borrower with a typical 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at the new conforming loan limit is as much as $24,800 over the life of the loan.

Effective for deliveries after January 1, 2005, the new loan limits for mortgages on one-to-four family properties will be:

$359,650 for mortgages on one-family properties (up from $333,700);
$460,400 for mortgages on two-family properties (up from $427,150);
$556,500 for mortgages on three-family properties (up from $516,300); and
$691,600 for mortgages on four-family properties (up from $641,650).

Under Freddie Mac's charter, maximum original loan amounts are 50 percent higher for first mortgages on properties in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.