Conforming loan limit
The maximum loan Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will purchase. For 2025, the baseline limit is approximately $806,500 for a single-family home in most U.S. markets, with higher limits in designated high-cost areas. Loans at or below this limit are “conforming”; loans above are jumbo.
How it works in practice
For 2026 the baseline one-unit limit is $832,750, and designated high-cost counties scale up to a ceiling of $1,249,125 — with Alaska and Hawaii on their own higher schedule. Multi-unit properties get larger limits (roughly 1.28×, 1.55×, and 1.92× the one-unit figure for two, three, and four units). The numbers reset every year from FHFA's house-price index, which is why a loan that was jumbo in one year can become conforming the next.
The limit matters because it's the boundary of the GSE market: at or under it, your loan can be sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and priced accordingly; over it, you're in jumbo territory — lender-set guidelines, typically stiffer credit and reserve expectations, and often a different rate. For borrowers near the line, structuring matters: a slightly larger down payment that pulls the loan under the limit can buy an easier approval, and conversely high-cost-county residents get conforming treatment at loan sizes that would be jumbo elsewhere.
Self-employed borrowers feel the boundary sharply because jumbo full-doc underwriting is the strictest read of tax returns in the market. Slipping under the conforming (or high-cost) limit keeps the friendlier agency cash-flow analysis; above it, many write-off-heavy borrowers find non-QM jumbo — bank statement documentation at jumbo sizes — the more realistic path. County-level limits are lookupable; ours is at /loan-limits.
Common questions
Is the conforming limit the most I can borrow?
No — it's the most Fannie and Freddie will buy. Jumbo lenders lend well beyond it under their own guidelines. The limit marks where pricing and underwriting change, not where borrowing stops.
How do I know if my county is high-cost?
FHFA publishes the full county table each year — check your county's one-unit figure against the $832,750 baseline; anything higher means designated high-cost status. Our loan-limit lookup covers every state and high-cost county.
Related terms
- Reserves — Liquid funds you must demonstrate after closing — not applied to the down payment or closing costs. Measured i…
- CPA letter — A signed statement from a licensed CPA confirming business type, continuity of operation, or ownership percent…
- LTV (Loan-to-Value Ratio) — Loan amount divided by the appraised property value. A $320,000 loan on a $400,000 home is 80% LTV. Lower LTV…
- CLTV (Combined LTV) — Total of all liens on the property (first mortgage + any HELOCs or second mortgages) divided by property value…
- Pre-approval — A conditional commitment from a lender based on a full review of your income documents, assets, debt obligatio…
← Back to the full mortgage glossary
Educational definition only — not financial, legal, or tax advice. Programs and limits change; verify current terms with a licensed professional.