Housing Wire points out today that the recently passed stimulus bill (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) re-raises the conforming loan limitations for many markets back up to late-2008 level. The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 had temporarily raised the conforming loan lmitations for the last six months of 2008.
The conforming loan limitations (capping loan amounts that Fannie and Freddie are allowed to purchase/guarantee) for 2009 were set under the Housing and Economic Recovey Act of 2008, meaning they dropped back to lower levels starting January 1, 2009. The new provision in the latest stimulus bills sets the limitation back to the higher late-2008 levels (or the 2009 levels calculated under HERA - whichever is higher).
This is obviously important in providing liquidity to the mortgage markets as Fannie and Freddie are currently operating as one of the only remaining secondary market buyer of newly originated mortgages. This will give them freedom to purchase/guarantee a wider range of mortgages.
The new limits vary by housing market and can be found here. They generally help areas designated as "high cost" - which does not include Phoenix. That means that the one-unit conforming loan limit for Maricopa County will remain $417,000 for loans originated in 2009. Two years ago, there were a lot of sales/loans in Phoenix metro that were exceeding that limit, but with the severe devaluation we have seen, the bulk of the new mortgages in Maricopa County should come in well under this limit.
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