2018 Loan Limit Increase

Loan limits for conventional, FHA & VA loans have increased across the country, state and county spectrums.

Federally, the base loan limit has been increased from $424,100 to $453,100

Statewide, all ‘high cost’ areas such as Marin, San Francisco, Los Angeles etc have increased from $636,150 to $679,650

Locally here on the Sonoma County level, our max loan limit for a NON-Jumbo loan has increased from $595,700 to $648,600.

Let me do some explaining:

Current Problem:
Let’s say you have a borrower that wants to look at up to a $700,000 property, and of course qualifies… no delusions of grandeur, please! LOL.

This is the new norm, we all know this.Your buyer only has roughly $50,000 in down payment.

Again, pretty normal. As of right now, here is where they stand – 

• Borrowers have 5%+ in down payment and can qualify for a $700k+ purchase… if they had more assets. Must stay at the $595,700 county limit.
• Would need $104,300 for a down payment on a $700k purchase to stay within Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac loan limits of $595,700.
• Jumbo Financing is usually out of the question because of reserve requirements in this scenario.
• Borrowers are now pigeonholed into looking for a $645k -$650k property so that they can get their $595,700 county loan limit financing. All because of the amount of cash to use and current loan limits.