In the ever-evolving landscape of real estate and finance, keeping up with changes to loan limits is crucial for both homebuyers and industry professionals. This year, 2024, is bringing significant updates to conforming loan limits, which can substantially impact the housing market and borrowers alike.
Recently, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced new conforming loan limits for 2024. The new conforming loan limit for single-family homes in most counties has increased from $726,200 in 2023 to $766,550 in 2024. The conforming loan limits for high-cost areas, including the Washington, D.C. metro area, increased from $1,089,300 in 2023 to $1,149,825 in 2024 for single-family homes.
If you are unfamiliar with the loan limit for your area, the FHFA provides a map with the amount for each county.
In this blog post, we’ll dive into what you need to know about the 2024 conforming loan limits. This includes what conforming loan limits are, how the FHFA calculates them, and their significance to prospective homebuyers.
What Are Conforming Loan Limits?
Conforming loan limits are caps set by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) on the maximum loan amount a borrower can obtain through loan programs subject to government-sponsored entity (GSE) guidelines.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the two government-sponsored entities that purchase and guarantee conforming mortgages in the United States. These GSEs help to lower interest rates, offer standardization and stability, and help deliver affordable loan options for homebuyers.
Loan limits are not static and are subject to change annually. Home price fluctuations, the housing market’s overall health, and inflation influence these changes. The aim is to ensure that loans remain affordable and accessible to a wide range of borrowers.
If your loan amount exceeds the conforming loan limit, you will require a non-conforming loan, such as a jumbo loan. Other loan programs, like jumbo loans, may require stricter requirements to qualify and necessitate a higher down payment.
Conforming loan limits are important to pay attention to because of the implications that exceeding them can have for homebuyers, like having to put more money down and being subject to different qualification requirements.
How the FHFA Determines the Conforming Loan Limits
The FHFA determines what action to take on conforming loan limits by reviewing the national average home price data from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and then adjusting for inflation.
Counties with higher-than-average home prices may have adjusted conforming loan limits to allow for those higher prices.
While an increase is not guaranteed, 2024 is the eighth year in a row homebuyers have seen the conforming loan limits increase after a long period with no changes from 2006 to 2016.
Typically, the FHFA announces the new conforming loan limits every November, and the new limits go into effect on January 1st of the following year. The FHFA reserves the right to make further changes to the conforming loan limits if further adjustments are needed.
Why Conforming Loan Limits are Significant to Homebuyers
Now that you know what the 2024 conforming loan limits are and how they were determined, you may be wondering what the significance is to you as a potential homebuyer.
Quite simply, an increase in the conforming loan limits means an increase in your buying power. A home that may have required a jumbo loan in 2023 may be eligible for a conforming loan in 2024.
The conforming loan limits may also be higher in some counties, depending on the average home prices.
This is significant for borrowers looking to buy in high-cost areas. For example, the standard conforming loan limit would not provide prospective homebuyers in Montgomery County, Maryland, the same buying power as Montgomery County, North Carolina.
Do you want to know what your buying power is? Schedule a free consultation with one of our expert loan officers. They will review your finances to let you know what you can afford.
Get started today and see if you can utilize the new conforming loan limits to your advantage!
This post contains links to other websites that are not hosted nor controlled by FHM. FHM is not responsible for their content, or the content of any information linked to these websites. Links to other websites are provided as a convenience to our visitors and do not imply any endorsement by FHM of information contained in these websites or the organizations that support them.
The included content is intended for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as professional advice. Additional terms and conditions apply. Not all applicants will qualify. Consult with a finance professional for tax advice or a mortgage professional to address your mortgage questions or concerns. This is an advertisement. Prepared 02/15/2024.