The Older I Get The More I Conform

The Older I Get The More I Conform

If you know me, you know that I don't like to stick to convention.  I was the teenager who skipped college, moved to Hollywood and played rock guitar.  In my 20's, I saved up vacation time not for sandy white beaches but instead for expeditions to the harsh mountain environs of the world's highest peaks.  In my 30's, I dove (literally) into the sport of triathlon --- an endeavor, to quote my Aunt Marge, that would be something she'd "rather die a thousand deaths" before contemplating.  When I come to the fork in the road where straight and narrow diverges from the path less traveled, you can bet your best Yogi Berra'ism that I'm gonna take the latter.  So to write a blog post solely about the increase in conforming loan limits tests my own limits of conformity.  But for once, I am going to go along with the crowd and talk about pending changes coming to the San Francisco Bay Area, and across the state of California, in 2018.

Let's step back for a minute and recognize that for the entire state (and country), the current conforming loan limit for a single family residence is set at $424,100.  In many of the higher cost, coastal counties of CA, we also have a "jumbo conforming," "super conforming," or "high-balance conforming" loan limit that exceeds this limit.  For example, here in my home county of Marin, that limit is presently set at $636,150.  Let's look at how these will increase in 2018:

2017 Conforming Limit          2018 Conforming Limit

$424,100                                    $453,100

2017 High Balance Limit       2018 High Balance Limit          County

$636,150                                    $679,650                                       Marin

$636,150                                    $679,650                                       Alameda

$636,150                                    $679,650                                       Contra Costa

$575,000                                    $615,250                                       Monterey

$636,150                                    $679,650                                       Napa

$636,150                                    $679,650                                       San Benito

$636,150                                    $679,650                                       San Francisco

$636,150                                    $679,650                                       San Mateo

$636,150                                    $679,650                                       Santa Clara

$636,150                                    $679,650                                       Santa Cruz

$431,250                                    $460,000                                       Solano

$595,700                                    $648,600                                       Sonoma

We will begin to implement the new limits in December of 2017, so if you believe any of these increases will impact your purchase or refinance mortgage, please let me know.  I am a big fan of the higher limits because a conforming loan generally provides an easier qualification compared to a jumbo mortgage, and simply because we have higher home prices in the Bay Area should not be a reason to subject borrowers to a more burdensome loan process.  Yes, I realize that much of the country may not dance to the beat of my drummer.  But even though I don't conform to their point of view, my idea of conforming is increasing, and that's a step in the right direction.

We don't get fooled again, 

Robert J. Spinosa
Executive Loan Advisor
NMLS: 22343 
Cell/Text: 415-367-5959 Fax: 415-366-1590
rob.spinosa@supremelending.com
1058 Redwood Highway, Frontage Road, Mill Valley, CA 94941

EVERETT FINANCIAL, INC. D/B/A SUPREME LENDING (NMLS ID #2129)