Find your county's 2026 Conventional & FHA loan limits
Select a state and county to see the maximum conventional (conforming) and FHA loan amounts for 1-4 unit properties for 2026.
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Conforming limits sourced from FHFA's 2026 county dataset. FHA limits are sourced directly from HUD's CY2026 Forward Mortgage Limits dataset, with cross-reference available via the HUD lookup tool. The 2026 FHA floor is $541,287 and the ceiling is $1,249,125 (1-unit); Limits apply to FHA case numbers assigned and conventional loans delivered on or after January 1, 2026. Final loan approval depends on credit, income, debt, down payment, and program guidelines.
Understanding 2026 Loan Limits
What are 2026 loan limits?
Loan limits are the maximum mortgage amounts that government-backed and government-sponsored loan programs will fund. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) sets the limits for conforming loans which are the conventional mortgages that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchase from lenders and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) sets the limits for FHA loans. Both update their limits annually based on changes in U.S. home prices.
For 2026, the baseline conforming loan limit for a one unit property is $832,750, up from $806,500 in 2025. The FHA floor, the minimum FHA loan limit, which applies to most U.S. counties is $541,287. In high cost areas, both conforming and FHA limits rise to a ceiling of $1,249,125 for one unit properties. Limits are higher for two, three, and four unit properties and special exception areas in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands can carry higher limits.
Conventional vs. FHA: which limit applies to you?
The right limit depends on the loan program you're using. If you're applying for a conventional loan that is delivered to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the FHFA conforming limit applies. If you're applying for an FHA loan with a lower down payment and more flexible credit guidelines, the HUD FHA limit applies. Alpine Mortgage can guide you through both options to find the structure that fits your scenario.
How loan limits are set
FHFA's conforming limits follow the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008, which ties limits to the FHFA House Price Index. Each year, FHFA's index measures the change in U.S. home prices over the prior four quarters, and the conforming baseline moves by the same percentage. A “hold-harmless” provision prevents limits from falling: even if local prices decline year-over-year, the limit holds at the prior year's level. HUD applies a separate but related methodology for FHA limits, anchoring the floor at 65% of the conforming baseline and the ceiling at 150%, with high-cost county limits calculated from local median home prices.
Counties earn a “high-cost area” designation when 115% of their local median home price exceeds the national conforming baseline. Roughly 100 counties nationwide carry high cost status, concentrated in coastal California, the New York metropolitan area, the Washington D.C. corridor, parts of Colorado and a handful of resort markets in Florida and the Mountain West.
Conventional & FHA Loan Limits FAQs
The 2026 baseline conforming loan limit is $832,750 for a one unit property, up from $806,500 in 2025. This baseline applies to the majority of U.S. counties. In high cost areas, the conforming limit rises to either $1,209,750 or $1,249,125 for one unit properties. Two unit, three unit, and four unit properties have progressively higher limits.
The 2026 FHA loan limit ranges from $541,287 (the floor, for low cost counties) to $1,249,125 (the ceiling, for high cost counties) for one unit properties. About two-thirds of U.S. counties use the floor, roughly 100 counties qualify for the ceiling and the remaining counties fall between the two.
Loans larger than the conforming limit are called jumbo loans. Jumbo loans aren't purchased by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac so they're held on the lender's balance sheet or sold to private investors. Jumbo loans typically require stronger credit (often 700+ FICO), larger down payments (often at least 20%) and more cash reserves than conforming loans but they let qualified borrowers finance higher priced homes that fall outside the conforming limits.
FHA won't insure a loan above the local FHA limit. Borrowers above the limit must use conventional or jumbo financing. In high cost areas where the FHA ceiling is $1,249,125, this is rarely a constraint; in lower cost areas where the floor is $541,287 borrowers above the FHA limit often switch to conventional financing which has the higher $832,750 baseline.
FHFA calculates conforming limits using the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) formula. Each year the conforming limit changes by the percentage change in FHFA's House Price Index over the prior four quarters. A hold harmless provision prevents the limit from decreasing in any county. High cost county limits are based on 115% of local median home prices up to a ceiling of 150% of the national baseline.
HUD calculates FHA limits by setting a floor at 65% of the FHFA conforming loan limit and a ceiling at 150% of it. Counties between the floor and ceiling have limits based on 115% of the local median home price, capped by the ceiling. Each fall HUD publishes the limits effective for FHA case numbers assigned beginning January 1 of the following year.
No. Baseline limits apply in most counties but high cost counties have higher limits that are up to 150% of the baseline. Special exception areas in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands can exceed even the high cost ceiling. Our calculator above shows the exact 2026 limits for any U.S. county.
The 2026 baseline conforming limit is $832,750, up from $806,500 in 2025 which is an increase of $26,250 (about 3.3%). The 2026 FHA floor is $541,287, up from $524,225 in 2025. In 26 high cost counties, the conforming limit holds at $1,209,750 due to FHFA's hold harmless rule, creating a $39,375 gap between conforming and FHA ceilings in those areas.