The Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”) has announced an increase in conforming loan limits for the fifth consecutive year. These maximum loan limits will apply to single-family conventional loans purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2021. Loans above these limits are known as jumbo loans.
The announcement provides that the maximum conforming loan limit for one-unit properties in most areas will be $548,250, an increase from $510,400 in 2020. Home prices, according to the FHFA’s seasonally adjusted, expanded-data House Price Index (“HPI”) report have increased 7.42% on average over the past four quarters, which is reflected in the baseline maximum conforming loan limit for 2021.
Special statutory provisions apply to loan limit calculations for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The maximum loan limit in these areas will be $822,375 for one-unit properties.
High Cost Area Limits
Along with the changes to the general loan limits for one-unit properties, “High-Cost Areas,” or areas in which 115% of the local median home value exceeds the baseline conforming loan limit, will have a higher maximum. Under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (“HERA”), the maximum loan limit in a high-cost area is a multiple of the median home value up to a “ceiling” equal to 150% of the baseline loan limit. The new maximum amount for “High-Cost Areas” will be $822,375 (150% of $548,250), increased from $765,500 in 2020.
A partial list of FHFA’s published maximum loan amounts are listed below. An entire list and map of the new conforming loan limits for all states can be found here.
Whenever there is a change in conforming loan limits, the following district and state-specific high cost tests may be impacted: California, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. The rules governing the applicability of these high cost tests may be determined, in part, by reference to the then-current conforming loan limits. For more information about these high cost tests and others, please see DocMagic’s State-Specific High Cost Memos here.
DocMagic’s Compliance Department will be modifying certain high cost tests (as enumerated above) to ensure that, where applicable, the appropriate conforming loan limit is selected for the district, state or county in which the mortgage property is located.
Please note that for both North Carolina and Tennessee, changes in the conforming loan limits will have no impact on its respective high cost test.[1]
For high-cost areas, the applicable loan limits for one-unit properties are listed below by state (or district) and by state county if applicable. Note that locations for which DocMagic’s Compliance Department will be updating its high cost test to reference the correct “jumbo” conforming loan limit are denoted by an asterisk before the state or district.
Alaska: $822,375 – all counties
*California: $548,250 – all counties except the following:
$822,375 (Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Marin, Orange, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz)
$816,500 (Napa)
$753,250 (San Diego)
$739,450 (Monterey, Ventura)
$707,250 (Sonoma)
$701,750 (San Luis Obispo)
$660,100 (Santa Barbara)
$598,000 (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Yolo)
$550,850 (Solano)
Colorado: $548,250 – all counties except the following:
$822,375 (Summit)
$822,250 (Eagle)
$765,600 (Garfield, Pitkin)
$678,500 (Routt)
$654,350 (Boulder)
$649,750 (San Miguel)
$625,500 (Lake)
$596,850 (Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, Jefferson, Park)
*District of Columbia: $822,375
Florida: $548,250 – all counties except:
$608,350 (Monroe)
*Georgia: $548,250 -all counties
Hawaii: $822,375 – all counties
Idaho: $548,250 – all counties except:
$822,375 (Teton)
$625,500 (Blaine, Camas, Lincoln)
Indiana: $548,250 – all counties
Maine: $548,250 – all counties
Maryland: $548,250 – all counties except:
$855,375 (Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, Prince George’s)
Massachusetts: $548,250 – all counties except:
$822,375 (Dukes, Nantucket)
$724,500 (Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk)
New Hampshire: $548,250 – all counties except:
$724,500 (Rockingham, Strafford)
New Jersey: $548,250 – all counties except:
$822,375 (Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic)
New Mexico: $548,250 – all counties
*New York: $548,250 – all counties except the following:
$822,375 (Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, Westchester)
$726,525 (Dutchess, Orange)
North Carolina: $548,250 – all counties except the following:
$625,500 (Camden, Pasquotank, Perquimans)
Pennsylvania: $548,250 – all counties except:
$822,375 (Pike)
South Carolina: $548,250 – all counties
Tennessee: $548,250 – all counties except the following:
$586,500 (Cannon, Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Macon, Maury, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale, Williamson, Wilson)
Texas: $548,250 – all counties
Utah: $548,250 – all counties except:
$817,650 (Summit, Wasatch)
$646,300 (Box Elder, Davis, Morgan, Weber)
$600,300 (Salt Lake, Tooele)
Virginia: $548,250 – all counties except:
$822,375 (Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Madison, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Warren, Alexandria, Fairfax City, Falls Church, Fredericksburg City, Manassas City, Manassas Park City)
Washington: $548,250 – all counties except:
$776,250 (King, Pierce, Snohomish)
West Virginia: $548,250 – all counties except:
$822,375 (Jefferson)
Wyoming: $548,250 – all counties except:
$822,375 (Teton)
Guam: $822,375
American Samoa: $548,250
Northern Mariana Islands: $548,250
Puerto Rico: $548,250
U.S. Virgin Islands: $822,375
The new “jumbo” conforming loan limits will be implemented into the applicable DocMagic state-specific high cost tests beginning January 1, 2021.
Please contact DocMagic’s Compliance Department if you have any questions regarding this article.
