Willow and Hearth

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced on November 25, 2025 that the baseline conforming loan limit for one unit properties in 2026 is $832,750, up $26,250 from 2025. These are the latest limits the agency has published, according to its 2026 conforming loan limit announcement. For a buyer shopping at the upper end of a local market, the number decides which kind of mortgage is even on the table.

The limit is the largest loan Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are allowed to buy from lenders. According to FHFA’s conforming loan limit page, loans above that amount are called jumbo loans. The limit applies to the size of the loan, not the price of the home, so the down payment you bring changes which side of the line you land on.

Subtracting the $26,250 increase puts the 2025 baseline at $806,500.

How the new number was set

FHFA says the Housing and Economic Recovery Act requires it to adjust the baseline every year to reflect changes in average U.S. home prices. For 2026 the agency measured a 3.26 percent increase in its House Price Index between the third quarter of 2024 and the third quarter of 2025, using the nominal, seasonally adjusted, expanded data version of the index. The baseline rose by the same percentage.

That means the limit follows home prices after the fact. It reflects what happened over the previous year, not what any individual market is doing now.

What changes in expensive counties

The baseline is not the whole story. FHFA explains that in areas where 115 percent of the local median home value is higher than the baseline, the law sets a higher limit for that area based on the local median value, capped at 150 percent of the baseline. For 2026 that ceiling for a one unit property is $1,249,125.

FHFA also states that median home values generally rose in high cost areas in 2025, which pushed their limits up. The agency says the 2026 limits are higher in all but 32 U.S. counties or county equivalents.

Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands are treated differently. FHFA lists a baseline of $1,249,125 there and a ceiling of $1,873,675 for one unit properties. Its conforming loan limit page notes that these areas have limits 50 percent higher than the rest of the country.

Who benefits and who does not

A higher limit helps a borrower whose loan was close to the old line. A loan that fit under the 2026 number is a conforming loan, which is the kind Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can purchase. A buyer in a high cost county who needs a loan above that county’s published limit is still borrowing a jumbo loan when the loan amount is above the limit for that location.

The announcement does not change the price of a home or the size of a down payment. It also says nothing about what lenders charge on jumbo loans, so any comparison of terms has to come from the lenders themselves.

The limit has a long history. FHFA’s page says the national limit rose from $33,000 in the early 1970s to $417,000 for 2006 through 2008, and that later laws raised limits in some high cost areas before the 2008 Housing and Economic Recovery Act set the permanent formula still used today. The county tables for 2009 through 2025 remain on the same page for anyone who wants to compare their county year by year.

Steps for buyers and owners

Look up the exact limit for the county where the property sits. FHFA publishes the full 2026 county list in spreadsheet, CSV and PDF formats and a values map, all linked from its conforming loan limit page. The announcement gives the one unit figures.

Compare the loan you expect to need, which is the purchase price minus your down payment, with that county figure. If the loan is under the limit, ask your lender whether the loan will be sold as a conforming loan. If it is over, ask the lender to explain how a jumbo loan is handled and what documentation it asks for.

Owners who plan to refinance can use the same list. A loan balance that was above the old limit may now be under the new one, and the lender can tell you whether that changes your options.

The limit is a federal rule about what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy. Lending decisions, rates and fees still belong to the lender and your state’s regulators. For questions about a specific loan, talk to a lender or a HUD approved housing counselor, and check FHFA’s county list before you make an offer.