From HW:
The Federal Housing Administration released approved loan limits on mortgages it would insure in 2011, leaving the ceiling unchanged at $729,750.
The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 and the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 raised the FHA loan-limit ceiling to help stabilize a shaky housing market. The national floor remains unchanged as well at $271,050.
The limits apply to all mortgages originated between Jan. 1, 2011, and Sept. 30, 2011, or the fiscal year for the FHA.
With the mortgage insurance industry still in recovery mode, the FHA has seen its share of the market swell. In 2010, the FHA insured $319 billion in single-family mortgages, 40% of all purchase mortgages in 2010.
Some areas of Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Virgin Islands receive special exceptions to account for higher costs of construction. The FHA set the ceiling in these areas at $1,094,625 for 2011.
The FHA kept its loan limit unchanged for the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program, or reverse mortgages. It remained at $625,500 even in special exception areas.
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FHA Gifts
Buyers can still receive a gift for their down payment and closing costs:
If one does an FHA loan when purchasing a home, do you know if the buyer is required to be in the home a certain period of time before they can sell? Are there requirements, such as how long they must keep the FHA loan before they can re-fi?
Off topic, but check out this UT article:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/dec/03/pending-sales-drop-san-diego-rise-nationally/
My favorite quote:
Molly Kirkland, spokeswoman for the local association, said it isn’t clear why San Diego is going in the opposite direction.
“They’ve been fluctuating this year,” she said. “I can’t say why they’re coming down.”
How about, prices are too high, same old dogs on the market, unemployment is very high, wages are stagnant, the list goes on. She seems a tad bit out of touch or am I overly critical?
You’re not being overly critical Deb. With the exception of Jim and a few others, I’m very unimpressed with the level of intelligence and competence that I see in the real estate industry. I think most are too lazy to put in the time to figure out what’s going on; they just parrot what their associations say.
Troubled Loner – “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.” — Upton Sinclair
All those people who don’t understand have big money riding on NOT understanding. After all, housing prices are going to come back aaaannnyyyytime now and they’re all going to be swimming in cash.
Applies to sellers, too.
Josie, I have a FHA loan and I am required to stay in the home two years as an owner-occupier. We refinanced to a lower rate almost immediately after getting our first loan, as it was substantially less.
So we have a bankrupt agency giving 40% of loans?
JtR – This just popped up in the UT: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/dec/03/nfls-carson-palmer-bought-del-mars-prime-coastal-l/
Thank you, Kwaping. I thought it requires one to stay for 2 years. At least the 40% of home buyers doing FHA aren’t going to flip for a while. I was curious if they are allowed to re-fi or if there’s pre-payment penalties or not allowed to for a certain period of time. That’s good that they allow you to re-fi if rates go down.
mojo – I know he had been looking in Del Mar since at least 2006. Who knows how many agents he rolled through before this rep hooked him in.