"They Raised The Conforming Limit!"

No They Didn't

Not just yet...

Yesterday I had a Mortgage Broker come in and proclaim the good news!

I don't sit around glued to the TV, Radio
or internet all day long, I have actual work to do.
I do stream CNBC into my office, and I do read a lot of
quality blogs (early in the morning).

I don't pretend to know everything but I do know where
to get the real information.
I pay attention. So when he came in and was positive he
heard the limit was raised I objected.

It was true because he heard a story on the radio.
So Mark Vanderpool, this is for you. Listen carefully.
They didn't raise the limit. But they are working on it.

Here's what did happen

Now pay attention.

One story reported that Congress and President Bush
have agreed, (but they haven't voted yet) on a 1-yr increase
in the conforming loan limit to $730K. That was one story.

Nancy Pelosi said on her official blog at 1:57 PM,

"Today, Congressional Democrats and Republicans and
President Bush reached an agreement on a bipartisan
stimulus package to immediately jumpstart the slowing economy."

"The House will move quickly to approve this stimulus
initiative that will provide broad-based help to the
American people and effectively invigorate the economy.
We hope the Senate will do the same."

"To address another critical issue affecting
American homeowners, the package includes mortgage
lending reforms - including a one-year increase in Fannie Mae's
and Freddie Mac's conforming loan limits
(from $417,000 to $625,500), and other changes that immediately
help families facing foreclosure refinance their loans and
get the housing counseling they may need."

On the very next post, on the same day, at 6:06 PM,
she posted what was labeled as a FACT SHEET
for the Bipartisan Economic Stimulus Package:

"One-Year Increase in GSE Housing Loans.
To enhance credit availability in the mortgage market,
particularly in high-cost areas, a one-year increase
in the loan limits for single family homes from Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac from $417,000 to $729,750."

Why the difference? There is talk about having a slightly higher
limit for HIGH COST AREAS - Like here in California.

SNAAAAAAP!

Somewhere in the day, OFHEO's director James Lockhart
(Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, they are the ones
who oversee Fannie and Freddie) issued a statement saying,

"We are very disappointed in the proposal to increase the
conforming loan limit as we believe it is a mistake to do so
in the absence of comprehensive GSE regulatory reform."

Bicameralism

Don't forget, we've not yet mentioned the other guys.
Those 100 lawmakers in the Senate get to have their way
with everything before it hit the President's desk.

Is it time for a little refresher course?

So there is your Cliff's Notes version of what happened and
what didn't happen to the Conforming Limit yesterday.

Here's a short bibliography:

• Pelosi 1: http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=1070
• Pelosi 2: http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=1071
• The White House Statement: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/01/20080124-4.html
• Henry Paulson Statement: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/01/20080124-6.html
• Lockhart Statement: http://www.ofheo.gov/newsroom.aspx?ID=410&q1=1&q2=None
• All the news stories on Google: http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ned=us&q=conforming+limit&ie=UTF-8&as_drrb=q&as_qdr=d&as_mind=24&as_minm=1&as_maxd=25&as_maxm=1

So now you know.