Is $417,000 a Jumbo Price in the Bay Area?

This morning, representatives from our Realtor Association Political Affairs Committee were at our office meeting. One of the things that they mentioned was that President Bush has on his agenda a raise in the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac maximums.
Silicon Valley is so expensive, compared to the rest of the country, that "conforming" loans are a rarity...less than a third of area loans. In the fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis, our clients are finding it tougher and more expensive to get so-called Jumbo mortgages of over $417,000.
The strange thing is that only Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Virgin Islands are exempt from these maximums. California is not considered a "high price area," even though the resale averages in Sunnyvale and Cupertino alone are nearly a million dollars.
Lifting the conforming loan limits would go a long way towards stabilizing the real estate market and restoring consumer confidence.