As the latest stimulus package is winding its way through Congress right now, more details are coming out.  In addtion to taxpayers getting up to $1,200 in checks, there’s also a part of the plan that will temporarily raise the conforming loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  This package targets major metro areas with high housing costs. 

With a median price of around $140,000, Columbia, South Carolina is nowhere near the ceiling for either program.  However, the programs will allow the new limit to be 125% of the median price range.  No matter how you slice it, this plan is great news for buyers and those of us in the real estate industry.

I found this at the Real Estate Journal (Wall Street Journal) website:

The package is also likely to temporarily raise the conforming loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, beyond the current $417,000, which would allow the government-sponsored companies to buy bigger loans in areas with high housing costs. Rep. Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, said the new limit would be 125% of a metropolitan area’s median housing price, up to a cap of about $700,000.  

For more info, click here to read the article in its entirety.

Your “No Bull” Realtor,

Kathy Smith
Russell & Jeffcoat Realtors, Inc.
(888) 808-4Moo ext. 0
(803) 781-5729
http://www.kathy.smith.net/