New conforming loan limits for 2024 have been announced by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), with the cap for single-unit properties across most of the country set at $766,550.
The conforming loan limit is the maximum dollar amount of a mortgage that Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac will guarantee. In accordance with the Housing and Economic Recovery Act, the limit is adjusted every year to reflect changes in the average price of a home in the U.S.
This adjustment is made on a per-county basis, with the limit in most counties receiving a bump equal to the average annual percentage increase of national home prices. In third-quarter 2023, this increase (seasonally adjusted) was 5.56%, according to the most recent FHFA House Price Index report.
Put another way, next year’s limit for most of the country is an increase of $40,350 from the $726,200 conforming loan limit in 2023. With home values steadily on the uptick this year due to the ongoing shortage of existing homes for sale, conforming loan limits will be higher in all but five U.S. counties or county equivalents.
In some counties, the cap will be even higher than the baseline limit. Applicable loan limits are higher in places designated by the FHFA as high-cost areas, or areas where 115% of the local median home value is greater than the baseline conforming loan limit. In these regions (which include the metro areas around New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, among others), next year’s ceiling for one-unit properties will be set at 150% of the baseline conforming loan limit: $1,149,825.
This figure also serves as the loan limit for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, each of which have loan limits established by special statutory provisions.
