If you're interested in a conventional mortgage, the FHFA maintains a database of county-specific conforming loan limits. Again, conforming loan limits are based on home prices throughout the United States. From 2024 to 2025, the FHFA bumped up the baseline conforming loan limit for a single-family home by 5.2%.
The conforming loan limits for Conventional loans are set to increase in much of the country from $766,550 in 2024 to $806,500 in 2025. These loans may be backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Meanwhile, loan limits for FHA loans will increase from $498,257 for 2024 to $524,225 for 2025.
What is the Max FHA Loan California for 2024? The max 2024 FHA loan limits in California, Single-family properties: $498,257; Two-family properties: $637,950; Three-family properties: $771,125; and Four-family properties: $958,350.
Recently, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced an update to the conforming loan limits (CLLs) for 2025, increasing the baseline limit to $806,500 for one-unit properties—a 5.2% increase from 2024.
Despite an overall reduction in borrowing costs over the past two years, the 30-year mortgage rate recently moved up from a little above 6% in September 2024 to closer to 7% in January 2025. That contrasts with longer term mortgage rates holding at historically low levels of between 2% and 3% for much of 2020 and 2021.
FHA's nationwide forward mortgage limit "floor" and "ceiling" for a one-unit property in CY 2025 are $524,225 and $1, 209,750, respectively.
If your credit score is 580 or higher, you can often make a down payment as low as 3.5% when you get an FHA loan. Other FHA loan requirements include: Debt-to-income ratio. Lenders frequently want your debt-to-income ratio to be less than 43%.
About jumbo loans
A loan is considered jumbo if the amount of the mortgage exceeds loan-servicing limits set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — currently $806,500 for a single-family home in all states (except Hawaii and Alaska and a few federally designated high-cost markets, where the limit is $1,209,750).
The National Association of Home Builders expects the 30-year mortgage rate to decrease to around 6.5% by the end of 2024 and fall below 6% by the end of 2025, according to the group's latest outlook.
Effective January 1, 2024, a covered transaction is not a qualified mortgage if, pursuant to § 1026.43(e)(3), the transaction's total points and fees exceed 3 percent of the total loan amount for a loan amount greater than or equal to $130,461; $3,914 for a loan amount greater than or equal to $78,277 but less than ...
You are permitted to have as many loans as you want simultaneously. To qualify for a conventional loan for a second home or investment property, you can have up to 9 other financed properties. But you must meet the loan program and lender criteria, which become more stringent with each subsequent loan.
FHA Loan Limits: These limits set the maximum loan amount that the FHA will insure. They vary by county and are adjusted annually to reflect changes in housing costs. FHFA Loan Limits: These limits set the maximum loan amount eligible for conforming mortgages, which are backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
For 2025, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) raised the maximum conforming loan limit for a single-family property to $806,500 from $766,550 (in 2024). In certain high-cost areas, the ceiling for conforming mortgage limits is 150% of that limit, or $1,209,750 for 2025.
Conventional loans with limits on the amount of money you can borrow are often called “conforming” loans. In 2024, the maximum Conventional conforming loan limit for a single-family home is $766,550. Certain high-cost areas may have higher limits.
2024 Conforming Loan Limits California is $766,550 and goes up to $1,149,825 for high-cost counties for one-unit properties. 2024 Conforming Loan Limits California for 2-unit properties is $981,500 and goes up to $1,472,250 for high-cost counties.
Bigger down payment
While it's possible to find jumbo loan lenders that will accept a 10% down payment, most will require you to put down at least 20%. That's a lot more than you'll need for a conforming loan, which usually only requires a down payment between 3% to 5% of the home's purchase price.
The monthly income rule
"You want to make sure that your monthly mortgage is no more than 28% of your gross monthly income," says Reyes. So if you bring home $5,000 per month (before taxes), your monthly mortgage payment should be no more than $1,400.
An FHA loan may be a better option if you have a lower credit score, a higher DTI ratio, or less money saved for a down payment. On the other hand, a conventional loan may work better if your finances are sound and you can qualify for favorable loan terms.
In summary, here's what we found: You need to make at least $54,000 per year to afford a $200,000 house. You need to make at least $81,000 per year to afford a $300,000 house. You need to make at least $109,000 per year to afford a $400,000 house.
Credit score requirements
Most first-time home buyer programs require a minimum credit score, often around 620, to qualify for conventional loans. However, some programs, like FHA loans, are more lenient, allowing scores as low as 580 or even lower with higher down payments.
Loan limit values can exceed the baseline value in areas with more expensive housing markets. Specifically, they are set at 115 percent of the highest county median home price in the local area as long as that amount does not exceed the ceiling.
The 28/36 rule
It suggests limiting your mortgage costs to 28% of your gross monthly income and keeping your total debt payments, including your mortgage, car loans, student loans, credit card debt and any other debts, below 36%.
The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 increased the size of CFIs to $1 billion in assets from the previous limit of $625 million. As of January 1, 2022 the Federal Housing Finance Agency has increased the current CFI asset cap to $1.323 billion.