Conforming Loan Limits: FHFA Annual Limits by County

The Federal Housing Finance Agency establishes conforming loan limits each year, setting the maximum mortgage balance eligible for purchase or guarantee by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These limits vary by county and property type, directly shaping which borrowers can access conventional secondary-market financing versus jumbo or portfolio products. Understanding how these thresholds are structured — and how they shift annually — is foundational for mortgage professionals, real estate practitioners, and borrowers evaluating loan product eligibility. The Mortgage Providers provider network reflects lenders operating across the full spectrum of conforming and non-conforming products.

Definition and scope

A conforming loan is a mortgage that meets the purchase standards of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) supervised by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The single most visible standard is the conforming loan limit (CLL) — the maximum principal balance a loan may carry and still be eligible for GSE acquisition.

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) mandates that FHFA adjust the baseline CLL annually to reflect changes in average U.S. home prices, measured using the FHFA House Price Index (HPI). For 2024, FHFA set the baseline conforming loan limit at $766,550 for a single-unit property in most U.S. counties (FHFA Conforming Loan Limits 2024). This figure applies to the contiguous 48 states, the District of Columbia, and most territories.

High-cost area provisions, also established under HERA, allow the CLL to rise to 150% of the baseline — reaching $1,149,825 for single-unit properties in designated high-cost counties for 2024 (FHFA Conforming Loan Limits 2024). Counties in California, New York, Massachusetts, Colorado, and Hawaii account for a significant share of these elevated-limit designations, though the FHFA publishes a full county-level lookup table each November.

Loan limits also scale with unit count. For a 2-unit property, the 2024 baseline is $981,500; for a 3-unit property, $1,186,350; for a 4-unit property, $1,474,400 (FHFA).

How it works

The annual adjustment process follows a structured sequence governed by HERA:

1. HPI Measurement: FHFA calculates the percentage change in average U.S. home prices using the seasonally adjusted, expanded-data HPI for the third quarter of the current year compared to the third quarter of the prior year.
2. Limit Calculation: The baseline CLL is multiplied by one plus that percentage change. If home prices decline, HERA holds the baseline flat rather than reducing it.
3. High-Cost Designation: For each county, the FHFA determines whether 115% of the local median home value exceeds the baseline limit. If it does, that county's limit is set at 115% of median value, capped at 150% of the national baseline.
4. Publication: FHFA publishes the updated limits in November, effective for loans with application dates on or after January 1 of the following calendar year.
5. GSE Adoption: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac update their Selling Guides and automated underwriting systems (Desktop Underwriter and Loan Product Advisor, respectively) to reflect the new limits at the start of the calendar year.

Loans that exceed the applicable county limit at origination are classified as jumbo or non-conforming and cannot be sold to the GSEs under standard guidelines. Lenders holding such loans either retain them in portfolio or sell them into the private-label securities market. The Mortgage Provider Network Purpose and Scope reference covers how lenders offering both conforming and jumbo products are categorized within professional directories.

Common scenarios

Standard conforming origination: A borrower in a median-cost county finances a single-family home. The loan balance falls at or below $766,550. The lender can deliver the loan to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, accessing standard secondary-market liquidity and conforming-rate pricing.

High-balance conforming (super-conforming): A borrower in San Francisco County finances a property. The county's limit for 2024 is $1,149,825. A loan up to that threshold qualifies as a high-balance conforming loan — eligible for GSE purchase under specific high-balance guidelines — rather than a true jumbo product. Pricing typically falls between standard conforming and jumbo rates.

Jumbo threshold crossover: A borrower in a standard-limit county originates a loan of $800,000. Because this exceeds the $766,550 baseline, the loan is non-conforming regardless of other underwriting factors. Lenders pricing this transaction draw on portfolio guidelines or private secondary-market execution.

Multi-unit investment property: A borrower purchasing a 4-unit property in a baseline county must keep the loan at or below $1,474,400 to remain in conforming territory. This limit enables debt-service coverage and qualification structures specific to small multifamily GSE products.

Decision boundaries

The primary classification boundary is conforming vs. non-conforming, determined entirely by whether the loan balance exceeds the applicable county and unit-count limit at the time of origination. A secondary boundary separates standard conforming from high-balance conforming, which carries modestly different pricing adjustments in the GSE loan-level price adjustment (LLPA) grids published by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Mortgage professionals cross-referencing county limits against borrower loan amounts should consult the FHFA's official county-level CLL lookup table rather than relying on state-level generalizations, because county-to-county variation within a single state can exceed $383,000 — the gap between the 2024 baseline and the high-cost ceiling. Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands receive statutory treatment as high-cost areas, giving them the $1,149,825 ceiling for single-unit properties regardless of local median price calculations.

Loan amounts that fall within $10,000 of a county's conforming ceiling frequently prompt discussions about conforming recast strategies — adjusting down payment or structure to keep the balance inside the limit and access conforming pricing. The How to Use This Mortgage Resource reference describes how professionals can navigate product-type distinctions when evaluating lenders in a given market.