New Jumbo Conforming Loan Limits: Rules and Pricing Highlights

In my last post New FHA & Conforming Loan Limits Announced, frequent Lending Clarity commenter and knowledgeable industry professional Catherine Coy provides a link to Fannie Mae’s guidelines and pricing policies.

A quick read of Fannie’s guidelines revealed some key points about the new conforming loans, or what Fannie calls Jumbo Conforming loans. This list is by no means comprehensive, so you’ll have to read it yourself to get all the details. These are just the ones that seemed particularly noteworthy to me:

Fannie Mae Jumbo Conforming Highlights

• Fannie will start accepting delivery of 15 & 30 yr fixed-rate mortgage on April 1 and 5/1 ARMs on May 1. (Lenders will probably begin originating these immediately)
• All new jumbo conforming loans must be manually underwritten.
• No “Cash Out” refinances allowed
• Fixed rate, 5/1 interest-only, and 5/1 fully amortized loans only
• Minimum Fico 660
• Max purchase LTV/CLTV for fixed is 90% (700 Fico required over 80%)
• Max purchase LTV/CLTV for ARMs is 80%
• Max rate & term refi LTV/CLTV is 75/95%
• Max 2nd home and investment purchase LTV/CLTV is 60%.

Here’s the matrix…
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