Crunch My Mortgage

FHA loan limits in 2026

HUD sets a floor, a ceiling, and a county figure in between. The limit applies to the base loan, before financed upfront mortgage insurance.

By Crunch My Mortgage Editorial Team Sources How we test

For case numbers assigned on or after January 1, 2026, the Federal Housing Administration published a new set of forward-mortgage limits in Mortgagee Letter 2025-23. The letter is the source for every dollar figure in the tables below. County limits that fall between the floor and the ceiling are not reprinted here. HUD’s lookup is the place to read a single county.

What the limit measures

An FHA limit is a cap on the base loan amount HUD will insure, not a cap on the price of the house and not a cap on the monthly payment. The base loan amount is the price minus the down payment. The upfront mortgage insurance premium can be added on top of that base. HUD’s letter sets the limit on the base. A financed premium does not, by itself, push a loan over the limit.

The limit also depends on how many units the property has. A one-unit house, a duplex, a triplex, and a four-unit property each have their own floor and ceiling. A property with more than four units is not a standard FHA forward mortgage of the kind these limits cover.

FHA limits are not the same thing as the conforming loan limit, though HUD builds them from that limit. The Federal Housing Finance Agency set the 2026 baseline conforming limit for a one-unit property in most of the country at $832,750. HUD’s letter uses that figure as the starting point: the FHA floor is 65 percent of it, and the FHA ceiling is 150 percent of it.

The 2026 floor

The floor is the lowest limit in the country. Every county is at least this high. HUD calls these the low-cost area limits. For 2026 they are:

  • One unit: $541,287
  • Two units: $693,050
  • Three units: $837,700
  • Four units: $1,041,125

If 65 percent of $832,750 is not a round number, HUD’s letter is the figure to use, not a fresh multiplication. The one-unit floor in the letter is $541,287.

A buyer in a low-cost county cannot raise the limit by shopping a different lender. The lender can insure only up to the county’s FHA limit. A larger price needs a larger down payment so the base loan still fits, or a loan that is not FHA.

The 2026 ceiling

The ceiling is the highest limit in most of the country. High-cost counties can sit above the floor, up to this cap. HUD sets the ceiling at 150 percent of the $832,750 national conforming limit. For 2026:

  • One unit: $1,249,125
  • Two units: $1,599,375
  • Three units: $1,933,200
  • Four units: $2,402,625

A county does not automatically receive the ceiling. HUD sets the local limit from median prices, and the result is held between the floor and the ceiling. Many counties stay on the floor. Some land in between. The ones at the top are the ceiling counties. The letter points to HUD’s county lookup for the figure that applies to a given address. This page does not guess a county.

Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the Virgin Islands

Those four places have a higher ceiling. Mortgagee Letter 2025-23 calls them special exception areas and adjusts the ceiling for higher construction costs. The 2026 special-exception ceilings are:

  • One unit: $1,873,625
  • Two units: $2,399,050
  • Three units: $2,899,800
  • Four units: $3,603,925

FHFA’s own conforming-limit announcement for 2026 prints a different one-unit ceiling for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands: $1,873,675. That is the conforming figure. The FHA figure in HUD’s letter is $1,873,625. They are published by different agencies for different programs. Use HUD’s number for an FHA loan and FHFA’s number for a conforming loan.

Worked example

Take a one-unit house priced at $500,000 with $17,500 down, which is 3.5 percent. The FHA MIP calculator computes the base loan and the mortgage insurance. It does not look up the county limit. That check is separate.

  1. Base loan: $500,000 − $17,500 = $482,500.
  2. The 2026 one-unit floor is $541,287. This base loan is under the floor, so it fits in every county, including a low-cost county.
  3. Upfront mortgage insurance is 1.75% of the base loan, $8,443.75. Financed, it is added on top. The limit comparison above used the base loan, not this larger total.
  4. At a 6% rate for 30 years, principal and interest on the financed loan are $2,943.46 a month, before the annual mortgage insurance premium.

Now raise the price to $620,000 with $21,700 down. The base loan is $598,300. That is above the $541,287 floor and below the $1,249,125 ceiling, so it is an FHA-sized loan only in a county whose 2026 limit is at least $598,300. In a floor county it does not fit unless the down payment grows enough to bring the base loan back to $541,287.

The same calculator shows the insurance on that larger loan: upfront premium $10,470.25, principal and interest $3,649.89 if the premium is financed. Insurance is owed only if the loan can be insured. The county limit decides that. The calculator does not.

What these limits do not decide

A loan under the limit can still be turned down. FHA has its own credit, income, property, and down-payment rules. The limit does not set the interest rate. It does not set the mortgage insurance rate. Those premiums are on the FHA MIP calculator, from HUD’s premium table, which is a different document from the loan-limit letter.

The limit also does not apply to every FHA program in the same way. Mortgagee Letter 2025-23 covers Title II forward mortgages and is effective for case numbers assigned on or after January 1, 2026. A case number assigned in 2025 uses the 2025 limits. Streamline refinances and other special programs follow the handbook sections that name them. A reverse mortgage uses the HECM limit in a separate letter, not the forward table above.

If a county limit on HUD’s lookup and a number on this page ever disagree, HUD’s letter and lookup govern. This page was checked against Mortgagee Letter 2025-23 and FHFA’s November 25, 2025 conforming-limit announcement.

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