2009 FHA Loan Limits for Seattle-Bellevue and Beyond

King, Snohomish and Pierce Counties loan limits effective January 1, 2009 are:

  • Single Family: $506,000
  • Two Family:  $647,750
  • Three Family:  $783,000
  • Four Family:  $973,100

The new loan limit is lower than the current FHA Jumbo limit of $567,500 and is happens to be the same as the jumbo-conforming (aka high-balance) loan limits for our area for 2009.

14 thoughts on “2009 FHA Loan Limits for Seattle-Bellevue and Beyond

  1. Still seems odd to me that the conforming limit could be equal to the new Jumbo. In essence, doesn’t that mean that there is no longer a Jumbo? That they blended the two into one program at a mid-point value? What am I missing?

  2. Ardell, the conforming loan limit is still $417,000. Conforming Jumbo/High-Balance will be limited to $500,600 for 2009 (probably effective before mid December when Fannie Mae’s DU 7.1 is in effect).

    Conforming for 2008 and 2009 will remain at $417,000.

    The conforming-jumbo/high-balance loan limit will be reduced from $567,500 to $500,600 in the tri-county area. Loans over $500,600 are “true jumbo”.

  3. Ardell, actually I’m not certain that this is the new FHA loan limit for our area and if the “FHA Jumbo” is being eliminated. I’m waiting for more information. The 2008 FHA jumbo loan limits were “temporary” to help stimulate the economy.

    Here is the Mortgagee Letter regarding the 2009 FHA loan limits: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/letters/mortgagee/files/08-36ml.doc

    I’m reading this as no more FHA jumbo–just FHA loan limit–but that’s just my interpretation. 😉

  4. Hello Rhonda,
    I’m in Gig Harbor with clients up and down the peninsula. When I received my notice of loan limits, I noticed a few counties over here were missing. Here’s the link on the HUD website that can direct someone out of the Puget Sound area: https://entp.hud.gove/idapp/html/hicostlook.cfm
    Type in state, county, and towards the bottom you have a choice of 2008 or 2009 limits. I thought this might help.
    I was at a blogging training with Ardell yesterday, she’s got me hooked.

  5. Hi Dave, you were so excited, it looks like you posted the link twice. LOL.

    You’re correct that I don’t have all the counties listed here for FHA limits–I purposely only did the tri-county area. At the time, when I posted this, I was going off of the HUD announcement and FHA had not yet issued their mortgagee letter. Plus, I do focus more on the Seattle/Bellevue metro area here at RCG.

    Blogging is fun. I hope you enjoy it. I’m just returning from teaching a RE office how to blog in Lynnwood. And did a conference call w/70+ LO’s yesterday. Good luck and have fun.

  6. Looks like we may be able to lock in the higher loan limits for FHA Jumbo until December 31, 2008. This timeline is from one of the lenders I work with:

    FHA High Loan Limits

    November 14, 2008: New 2009 FHA loan limits available
    December 31, 2008: Last day to lock FHA Jumbo
    December 31, 2008: Final approval date for 2008 limits
    January 1, 2009: New LTV and down payment requirements effective with new case numbers
    February 13, 2009: Last day to purchase FHA Jumbo with 2008 limits

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