McLEAN, VA -- Freddie Mac today announced it will implement an increase in its single-family mortgage loan limit from $359,650 to $417,000 effective January 1, 2006. This increase in conforming loan limits is based on the October-to-October changes in the average house prices, as published by the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB), and on Supervisory Guidance issued by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. The FHFB figures come from its monthly survey of lenders. Both new and existing homes are included in the survey.

The increase in the single-family mortgage loan limit makes it possible for an estimated 500,000 additional families to obtain lower cost mortgage financing. Freddie Mac estimates that total mortgage interest savings for a borrower with a typical 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at the new conforming loan limit is as much as $24,700 over the life of the loan.

Effective for deliveries after January 1, 2006, the new loan limits for mortgages on one-to-four family properties will be:

• $417,000 for mortgages on one-family properties (up from $359,650);

• $533,850 for mortgages on two-family properties (up from $460,400);

• $645,300 for mortgages on three-family properties (up from $556,500); and

• $801,950 for mortgages on four-family properties (up from $691,600).

Under Freddie Mac's charter, maximum original loan amounts are 50 percent higher for first mortgages on properties in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.