HousingWire reports a bill reinstalling higher conforming loan limits for the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was singed into law Friday morning, Nov. 18, by President Obama. Both the House and Senate had passed the bill by over a two-thirds majority on Thursday. The FHA can now insure loans up to $729,750, an increase over the previous limit of $625,500. Congress had originally upped the limits in 2008 on FHA as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but the ruling expired Oct. 1. The bill does not include Fannie and Freddie, much to the chagrin of Rep. John Campbell (R-CA) who says the GSEs continue to need government support. He said, “Even now, private lenders remain incredibly risk-averse, hesitating to provide long-term, fixed-rate mortgages to the vast majority of the market. Until Congress decides how to move forward with broad reform to fix our broken housing finance system, we should not dismantle the few remaining support systems that are preventing the housing industry from collapsing further.” Carole Galante, FHA Acting Commissioner, reminded Senators that government should be reducing the FHA market share.
