Following the recent announcement that the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) will not lower loan limits eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, C.A.R. issued the following statement:
“C.A.R. commends FHFA Director Melvin Watt for his announcement today that the FHFA will not reduce loan limits on loans eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” said C.A.R. President Kevin Brown. “Lower loan limits would have had an adverse effect in many parts of the country, but especially here in California where rebounding home prices and decreasing home affordability would hamper mortgage activity and impact the housing recovery.”
Earlier this year, the FHFA announced its intention of lowering the loan limits, and asked for public comment. Since then, C.A.R. and the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR) aggressively fought to prevent a reduction in the loan limits.
In March, C.A.R. submitted a letter to Director Watt urging him not to decrease loan limits for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Additionally, C.A.R. sponsored California Senate Joint Resolution 19, authored by Senator Lou Correa, a measure that would express the Legislature’s opposition to a reduction of the current national and high-cost conforming loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. SJR 19 (Correa) passed the Senate as written and is awaiting assignment to the Assembly Banking and Finance Committee.
Read the letter