FHA Loan Limits Announced

The new, ostensibly temporary (more on that) FHA loan limits have just been announced by HUD. In King and Snohomish Counties the loan limit for a single family home is a whopping $567,000. That's close to a $200,000 increase over the previous limit. In the recent past, because of the multitude of available Conventional loan programs, FHA programs have been mostly ignored. Not now. The increased limit along with less restrictive loan underwriting criteria may very well mean that FHA loans jump to the forefront of all residential loans for the foreseeable future.

What does this future hold. These limits are meant to be temporary. The thinking is that when the economy improves sufficiently, the rates can be brought back down to more conservative levels. I don't think so. Can you imagine the outcry from real estate professionals and the homebuying public when HUD tries to lower the rate?

To look up the new rates across the county go to HUD's site.

Final food for thought. If you've ever wanted to own investment property, the FHA loan limit for a fourplex with the borrower (you) living in one of the units is over $1,000,000. Wow.