2026 Conforming Loan Limit Checker

This 2026 conforming loan limit checker tells you whether the loan you plan to borrow fits under the limits Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy. Your answer is one of three: a standard conforming loan, a high-balance conforming loan in a pricier county, or a jumbo loan that falls outside those limits.

How do you use this checker?

Enter your loan amount, choose the number of units, and, if you live in a high-cost county, add your county’s 2026 limit. The checker compares your loan with the right limit and shows how much room you have or how far over you are.

Tips on each input:

• Loan amount. Use the amount you will borrow, not the price. Down payment comes off first.
• Units. A condo or single-family home is one unit. A duplex is two.
• County limit. Find it in FHFA’s 2026 county list or interactive map, linked from the FHFA conforming loan limit page. If you leave it at 0, the checker uses the national baseline.

How is the limit check calculated?

The checker looks up the 2026 baseline and ceiling for your unit count. If you enter a county limit, it keeps that limit within the baseline and ceiling. Then it compares your loan: at or below baseline is conforming, above baseline but within your county limit is high-balance, and above that is jumbo.

The logic:

1. Area limit = your county limit, but no lower than the baseline and no higher than the ceiling (or the baseline if you leave it blank)
2. Conforming if loan ≤ baseline
3. High-balance if baseline < loan ≤ area limit
4. Jumbo if loan > area limit; amount over = loan − area limit

The 2026 limits it uses, from FHFA and HUD:

FHFA set the one-unit baseline at $832,750 and the ceiling at $1,249,125, which is 150% of the baseline (FHFA). Its 2026 addendum gives the multi-unit baselines (FHFA addendum). The FHA floors and ceilings come from HUD’s 2026 announcement (HUD).

Worked example

The same $980,000 loan on a two-unit property is under the $1,066,250 two-unit baseline, so it would be conforming.

What does your result mean?

A conforming result means your loan can follow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rules. High-balance means the same, but lenders may price it differently. Jumbo means each lender sets its own rules, which often include a larger down payment, a higher credit score and more cash in reserve.

Rules that can change your answer:

• County. FHFA sets high-cost limits at 115% of the area’s median home value, capped at the ceiling. It says roughly 100 to 200 counties qualify in a typical year (FHFA FAQs).
• Special areas. Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands have a baseline 150% of the national figure. This checker caps at the contiguous-US ceiling, so use FHFA’s list there.
• FHA. FHA limits are separate and set by county between the floor and ceiling shown above.
• Year. Limits change each January. A loan that closes in 2027 will use 2027 limits.

To see how a down payment changes your loan, read how much down payment you need. FHA buyers should also read FHA vs conventional loans.

Common mistakes

The most common mistake is checking the home price instead of the loan. Others:

• Using last year’s limits.
• Assuming your county uses the baseline without checking FHFA’s list.
• Forgetting the unit count for a duplex or fourplex.
• Treating the FHA floor as the conventional limit.
• Checking an early estimate instead of the final loan amount on your Loan Estimate.