Advertisement

Fannie, Freddie may cut loan limits, pushing borrowers to jumbos

The agency that regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is considering reducing the maximum size of home loans that the mortgage giants can acquire. Above, Fannie Mae's headquarters in Washington.
(Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press)
Share

WASHINGTON — Should you be concerned that the maximum loan amount you’ll be able to obtain through the biggest players in the mortgage industry — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — might be cut sometime next spring? Maybe you should.

That’s because mortgage applicants who no longer qualify under the revised limits will be forced to shop in the so-called jumbo arena, where minimum credit scores and financial reserve requirements tend to be tougher and down payments heftier than in the conventional space dominated by Fannie and Freddie.

You might also have to settle for an adjustable-rate mortgage rather than a fixed-rate one. Or you might end up in a situation where you need a higher-rate “piggyback” second mortgage to afford the down payment on the first mortgage deal you’re offered.

Advertisement

Here’s a quick overview of what could push eligible loan amounts downward and what that may mean for thousands of buyers across the country who abruptly find themselves in jumbo land.

At a meeting in Washington recently, Edward J. DeMarco, acting director of the agency that oversees Fannie and Freddie in conservatorship, said he was seriously considering reducing loan maximums as part of a strategy to lessen federal involvement in the mortgage market. Though he offered no specifics on dollar amounts, industry analysts say the maximum Fannie-Freddie loan size could drop from the current $417,000 to $400,000 in most parts of the country, and from $625,500 to $600,000 in designated high-cost areas such as coastal California, metropolitan Washington, D.C., New York City and its suburbs, parts of New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming and North Carolina. The decreased limits could take effect as early as May.

Those decreases may not sound like much, but they’ll affect large numbers of consumers who want to purchase homes with prices above the average for their areas, especially newly built houses. Real estate and lending groups are concerned that making mortgage money tougher to obtain — pushing buyers into a segment of the market where Fannie and Freddie cannot operate — is counterproductive in a housing economy still struggling to recover from bust and recession.

There’s another, perhaps more important, problem here as well: Reducing loan amounts next spring would complicate what is already shaping up as a challenging lending environment for consumers in 2014, critics say.

Starting in January, new federal regulations that restrict debt-to-income ratios and allowable total fees in “qualified” mortgages will take effect and make significant numbers of applications ineligible for Fannie-Freddie loan terms. Some industry estimates suggest that as many as 1 in 5 borrowers this year would not pass the qualified mortgage tests scheduled for next year.

Though DeMarco appears determined to lower the loan ceilings for Fannie and Freddie, congressional critics contend that he lacks the statutory authority to do so. A bipartisan group of 66 House members sent a letter to DeMarco arguing that he is prohibited by “specific language” in an economic stimulus law passed in 2008 from lowering the limits set by Congress. DeMarco’s legal team disputes that interpretation.

Advertisement

The fight over Fannie-Freddie loan limits focuses fresh attention on what could become a much more significant piece of the market: jumbos. Because they are larger than conventional mortgages — ranging from just above $417,000 to seven figures — jumbos traditionally have come with extra costs and underwriting restrictions. Though jumbo interest rates now average slightly above conventional rates, they often require stellar FICO credit scores in the upper 700s, down payments of 20% or more and lots of spare money in the bank. Fannie and Freddie loans, by contrast, are less restrictive and allow down payments of 5% to 10% with mortgage insurance.

Some lenders are beginning to relax their jumbo terms, however, and are offering smaller down payment options. Ted Rood, senior mortgage consultant with Wintrust Mortgage in St. Louis, for example, said his firm can do jumbos with down payments as low as 10% but at a slightly higher interest rate than jumbos with 20% to 30% down.

Bottom line: If you’re thinking about buying a house with an above-average price for your area next year, think jumbo mortgages. They may be your main, or only, financing option.

kenharney@earthlink.net

Distributed by Washington Post Writers Group

Advertisement