REAL ESTATE

Higher Limits for ‘Conforming’ Loans: The Federal Housing Finance Board is raising the limit on the size of the loans that can be purchased by the Federal National Mortgage Assn., the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. and other companies that buy loans from lenders and repackage them for sale to investors. The new limit of $203,150 goes into effect Jan. 1 and is $850 higher than the current ceiling. Mortgages for less than the board’s limit, “conforming” loans, typically have rates that are a half-point lower than rates on “jumbo” loans that exceed the agency’s ceiling.