Time to Talk Loan Limits; Homeowners Throwing Away Retirement; Income Fears Hurt Housing; Rates Wait on Election

A change in conforming loan limits could have a big impact on mortgage originations and on homebuying in general according to Black Knight Financial Services. The company did an analysis of those limits in its current edition of the Mortgage Monitor which covers mortgage performance data from September. Black Knight says with the national HPI returning to pre-crisis levels talk has now turned to raising those levels. The current conforming limit, $417,000, has not changed since 2006. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008 rest r icted any additional increase in the limit until national home values had returned to pre-crash levels. There are currently 234 designated "high cost" counties (indicated on the map) where conforming limits exceed the national level, going as high as

from
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/reports/newsletter/2016/11/7/2483