Citing its goal and the White House’s stated preference to reduce the market presence of the government-sponsored enterprises, the Federal Housing Finance Agency this week proposed setting “loan-purchase limits” for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The FHFA said it could use its authority as conservator to set loan-purchase limits about 4.0 percent below the statutory GSE loan limits it established for 2014. Instead of a national floor of $417,000, the top single-unit mortgage Fannie and Freddie would buy in markets that are not designated high cost would be $400,000. The maximum purchase limit in high-cost markets would be $600,000, rather than $625,500, and all the “tweener” high-cost limits would similarly be reduced by 4.0 percent. “The loan purchase limits … would modestly reduce...