The Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”) recently announced 2022 loan limits applicable to FHA-insured Single Family Title II Forward Mortgages in Mortgagee Letter 2021-28.
The FHA raised the maximum loan limits across all counties based on the median home price in each area. The 2022 calendar year loan limits will be included in a future Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1 update, including section II.A.2.a.ii(B) – Low-cost Area; section II.A.2.a.ii(C) – High-cost Area; and section II.A.2.a.II(D) – Special Exceptions for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Virgin Islands.
The FHA maximum loan limits are calculated as a percentage of the national conforming loan limits. Record setting increases in housing prices in 2021 have resulted in equally high increases in conforming loan limits and FHA loan limits for 2022.
The FHA will increase the low-cost area “floor” from $356,362 to $420,680 for one-unit properties. This figure is equal to 65% of the national conforming loan limit of $647,200 recently announced by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The loan limit “ceiling” will also increase in high-cost areas from $822,375 to $970,800, matching conventional conforming loan limits in high-cost areas. This “ceiling” amount is equal to 150% of the national conforming limit for one-unit properties.
Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the Virgin Islands are special exception areas, with mortgage limits adjusted by FHA to cover higher costs of construction. These four special areas have a higher ceiling limit of $1,456,200 for a one-unit.
The new loan limits are effective for case numbers assigned on or after January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022.
For a complete list of FHA loan limits, please visit FHA’s Loan Limit page.
