It happens every time this year. California gets snubbed. Lumped in with some other states where a typical house doesn’t cost more than a half a million bucks. (California’s median price in October was $548,680), the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
But that’s how Washington views us for purposes of establishing conforming loan limits. That’s the maximum size of a mortgage that industry giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy or guarantee. Buy a house above that limit, and your mortgage is going to be more expensive.
This limit is determined by the change in the average home price nationally from one week in October one year to a week in October the next.
It is set by law and implemented by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.
And it didn’t change from last year’s $417,000, which tells you where this residential real estate market is heading. Down.
This year the average October price declined $501, or 0.16 percent. It’s the first time that’s happened since 1993.
