Conforming Loan Limit 2027: When It's Announced and What to Expect

8 min read · LenderMatch Learn

FHFA has not announced the 2027 conforming loan limit yet. As of October 30, 2026, the limit is still $832,750 for a one-unit home in most counties and up to $1,249,125 in high-cost areas, and FHFA has announced each of the last three years’ limits in late November. The next one is likely to arrive around the same time: FHFA’s third-quarter house price report, the data the new limit is based on, is scheduled for Tuesday, November 24, 2026, and the 2027 limits take effect January 1, 2027.

Below: the 2026 numbers, how FHFA calculates the change, what lenders are already using as early figures, and why the limit matters if you plan a cash-out refinance. If you are close to your county’s limit, comparing offers from several lenders shows you both the conforming and the jumbo price.

How we update this page: last updated October 30, 2026. We update it the day FHFA announces the 2027 limits, and again if FHFA revises any county’s limit afterward.

Has the 2027 conforming loan limit been announced?

No. As of October 30, 2026, FHFA’s conforming loan limit page lists the 2026 limits as current and does not mention 2027. The conforming limit is the largest loan Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac may buy; anything above it is a jumbo loan. FHFA, which regulates both companies, resets it each year under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA).

According to FHFA’s own FAQ, it updates the limits “at the end of each November,” and the new limits take effect a month later, on January 1.

When will the 2027 conforming loan limits be announced?

FHFA does not publish the date in advance. Here is when it announced the last three years’ limits, each on a Tuesday near the end of November:

Source: FHFA news releases of November 28, 2023, November 26, 2024 and November 25, 2025.

The timing follows the data. The 2026 announcement said FHFA had published its third-quarter 2025 House Price Index report “earlier today.” FHFA’s August 25, 2026 release says the next quarterly report, with third-quarter 2026 data, comes out on November 24, 2026. FHFA has not said the limits will come that day.

Conforming loan limits 2026: baseline and high-cost ceiling

Until the 2027 numbers take effect, these are the limits for loans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy in 2026:

Source: FHFA 2026 announcement and addendum (November 25, 2025); multi-unit ceilings from FHFA’s 2026 county list.

The 2026 baseline rose $26,250 from 2025. FHFA says limits went up in all but 32 counties or county equivalents. Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands follow special rules: a one-unit baseline of $1,249,125 and a ceiling of $1,873,675.

How FHFA sets the conforming loan limit

The formula is set by law. HERA requires FHFA to raise the baseline each year by the change in average U.S. home prices. FHFA measures that with its House Price Index (the nominal, seasonally adjusted, expanded-data version) from the third quarter of one year to the third quarter of the next.

For 2026, FHFA’s addendum shows the math: the index rose from 405.90 in the third quarter of 2024 to 419.12 in the third quarter of 2025, a 3.257% increase. Applied to the 2025 baseline of $806,500 and rounded down to the nearest $50, that gives $832,750.

Three more rules shape the number:

• It does not go down. If prices fall, the baseline stays flat until the decline is made up. It stayed at $417,000 from 2006 until 2017.
• High-cost areas get more. Where 115% of the local median home value is above the baseline, the local limit equals that amount, up to a ceiling of 150% of the baseline. FHFA uses the highest county median in each metro area, from figures HUD calculates.
• Rounding. FHFA rounds the baseline down to the nearest $50 and high-cost limits down to the nearest $25.

Will the conforming loan limit increase in 2027?

FHFA has not published a 2027 figure or a forecast of one. What exists so far are early limits some lenders have chosen to honor before the announcement. HousingWire reported these on September 16, 2026:

These are the lenders’ own working numbers. The article did not explain how they were calculated, and none of them is an FHFA estimate. If the official 2027 limit comes in below a lender’s early figure, a loan between the two numbers cannot be sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac as a conforming loan.

For context, FHFA’s headline index showed U.S. house prices up 2.1% from the second quarter of 2025 to the second quarter of 2026 (released August 25, 2026). That is a different version of the index and a different period from the one the limit uses, so it is not a forecast of the 2027 change. Because the baseline cannot fall, the 2027 limit will be at least $832,750.

Conforming loan limits by county: high-cost examples

More than 95% of counties use the baseline; roughly 100 to 200 counties get a higher limit in any year, according to FHFA. Some 2026 examples from FHFA’s county list:

FHFA’s FAQ walks through two of these. Santa Barbara County’s median home value was $819,000, and 115% of that is $941,850. The Washington, D.C. metro area’s median was $1,198,000; 115% of it is above the ceiling, so every county in that metro gets the $1,249,125 cap. FHFA’s 2026 county list, linked in the sources, has every county.

Jumbo loan limit 2027: where jumbo starts

There is no separate jumbo limit. A jumbo loan is simply any mortgage above the conforming limit for its county and unit count, so the 2027 jumbo threshold will be whatever FHFA announces. The whole loan becomes a jumbo loan, including the dollars below the limit.

Because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac cannot buy jumbo loans, each lender sets its own rules for them, including how much of your home’s value it will lend against, the credit score it wants and how it prices the loan. Jumbo pricing does not always run higher. In the Mortgage Bankers Association’s survey for the week ending October 23, 2026, the average 30-year fixed rate was 7.28% on jumbo balances and 7.37% on conforming balances, with points of 0.64 and 0.76. What matters is the offer you actually get, which is why comparing lenders helps. See current averages on our refinance rates page.

Why the limit matters for a cash-out refinance

A cash-out refinance replaces your mortgage with a bigger one and pays you the difference. For a one-unit home you live in, Freddie Mac caps a conforming cash-out loan at 80% of the appraised value. The conforming limit is a second cap on top of that. In expensive areas, the dollar limit can bind before the 80% does.

Say your home in King County, Washington is worth $1,400,000 and you owe $700,000.

Calculated by LenderMatch from FHFA’s 2026 King County limit and Freddie Mac’s 80% cash-out cap. A jumbo lender sets its own maximum, which may be below 80%. The property figures are assumptions for illustration.

To take the extra $56,250, the entire $1,120,000 loan would have to be a jumbo loan. If the 2027 King County limit comes in higher, more of that room becomes conforming, which is one reason some homeowners near the line wait for the announcement. Another option is to keep your current mortgage and borrow the cash with a HELOC; cash-out refinance vs HELOC compares the two, and the cash-out refinance calculator runs your numbers. Freddie Mac’s average 30-year fixed rate was 7.24% for the week of October 29, 2026.

Frequently asked questions

When will the 2027 conforming loan limits be announced?

FHFA has not set a date. It announced the last three limits in late November: November 28, 2023, November 26, 2024 and November 25, 2025. In 2025 the announcement came the same day as FHFA’s third-quarter house price report, and this year’s third-quarter report is scheduled for November 24, 2026. The new limits take effect January 1.

What is the conforming loan limit for 2026?

$832,750 for a one-unit home in most of the country. In high-cost areas the limit can be higher, up to a ceiling of $1,249,125. Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands have a baseline of $1,249,125 and a ceiling of $1,873,675.

Can the conforming loan limit go down?

Not under FHFA’s rules. When national home prices fall, the baseline stays flat until the decline is made up; it stayed at $417,000 from 2006 until 2017. FHFA also does not lower county limits when a local median value drops.

What is the jumbo loan limit for 2027?

A jumbo loan is any mortgage above the conforming limit for its county, so the 2027 jumbo threshold will be whatever FHFA announces for 2027. Until then, a one-unit loan above $832,750 in most counties, or above the county’s higher limit in a high-cost area, is a jumbo loan.

Does the conforming limit apply to a cash-out refinance?

Yes. The limit applies to the new loan amount on any mortgage Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac buys, including a cash-out refinance. If the new loan you need is above your county’s limit, it would be a jumbo loan with the lender’s own rules and pricing.

Does LenderMatch check my credit?

No. LenderMatch never pulls your credit. A lender you choose may check it, with your permission, when you apply.

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