December 23, 2016
FHA loan limits for 2017 were posted on the FHA/HUD official site recently, but the Federal Housing Administration has updated the original post with a correction.
According to an FHA mortgagee letter, “Mortgagee Letter 16-20 set Federal Housing Administration forward mortgage limits for calendar year 2017, but indicated incorrect ceiling limits for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the Virgin Islands, which are special exception areas which allow for higher construction costs.”
That’s according to Mortgagee Letter 2016-25, which adds the “the correct forward mortgage limit ceiling for those special exception areas”.
The Mortgagee Letter is quick to add that there are NO CHANGES for FHA loan limits, including those in the special exception areas. According to the new mortgagee letter:
“While ML 16-20 referenced incorrect ceiling limits for the special exception areas, there are no changes to the mortgage limits in any jurisdiction, including the special exception areas, as no jurisdiction in the special exception area has a median house price that generates a mortgage limit above the amounts referenced in ML 16-20.”
According to the FHA official site, the FHA high costs of construction in the special exception areas requires adjustments to mortgage limit ceilings for Alaska (AK), Hawaii (HI), Guam (GU) and the Virgin Islands (VI).
“These Special Exception Area limit ceilings are set at 150 percent of FHAs High Cost Area mortgage limits, rounded down to the nearest $25” according to the official site. “These four special exception areas have a higher ceiling as follows:
-One-unit: $954,2 25
-Two-unit: $1,221,750
-Three-unit: $1,476,775
-Four-unit: $1,835,200”
If you are not sure how these numbers or their correction from the original posting affects your transaction, speak to your loan officer for more information.
This correction applies for all affected FHA loans in the special exception area with FHA loan case numbers assigned on or after 1 January, 2017.
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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