Conforming loan limits

California Association of Realtors is pushing for swift passage of a bill in the Senate calling for increases in loan limits to match median home prices in California and other high-cost areas and the creation of a new regulator to oversee Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs), such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Vigorous support helped push the measure, HR 1427, through the House in May, but it has since stalled in the Senate. The bill would raise the current maximum size of a conforming mortgage loan from $417,000 to a capped amount at 150 percent of the national limit or $625,500, allowing low- and moderate-income home buyers in high-cost areas better access to low-cost, low-rate fixed mortgages.C.A.R.
President Colleen Badagliacco was recently quoted in a "San Jose Mercury News" story on the issue, saying that a loan of $417,000 "may buy a mansion in Des Moines but it doesn't buy anything in San Jose."