County FHA loan limit lookup

How county loan limits are set

FHA loan limits are calculated from the median home price in each county's metropolitan area. HUD sets a national floor that applies wherever 115% of the local median falls below it, and a ceiling that applies where 115% of the local median exceeds it. Counties in between get a limit equal to 115% of their area median price, rounded to the published figure.

Because the calculation follows the local market, a limit can rise sharply in a fast-appreciating county and stay flat for years in a stable one. Limits are published for one-, two-, three- and four-unit properties, and the multi-unit figures matter to buyers using assistance on a duplex they intend to occupy.

Why the limit matters to an assistance file

An assistance file has to clear three separate ceilings, and buyers are usually only aware of one of them. The first mortgage has to fit inside the FHA or conforming limit for the county. The purchase price has to fit inside the program's own maximum. Household income has to fit inside the program's income cap for that county and household size.

The binding constraint is rarely the loan limit. In most Florida and Colorado counties the program purchase-price limit is the number that decides what you can shop for, which is why our county pages publish both.

• FHA county loan limit — caps the insured first mortgage.
• Conforming loan limit — caps a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac first mortgage.
• Program purchase-price limit — set by the housing finance agency, often lower than both.
• Program income limit — measured by county and household size, and the most common disqualifier.
• Property type — the unit count changes the limit and sometimes the program eligibility.

Reading the numbers in the lookup

The one-unit figure is the one most buyers need. The two-, three- and four-unit figures apply to small multifamily purchases where you will occupy one unit; assistance programs vary widely on whether they permit that at all.

The HUD area median price shown alongside the limits is the figure the county calculation is derived from. Where a county's limit equals the national floor, the area median price sits below the level at which the formula would raise it.

The metro area line tells you which market HUD grouped the county into. Counties inside a large metro share the metro's limit, which is why a rural county on the edge of a major market can carry a much higher limit than its own prices would suggest.