The Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”) has announced an increase to maximum conforming loan limits. The conforming loan limits represent the maximum original loan amounts eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The baseline maximum conforming loan limit for one-unit properties in 2020 will be $510,400. This represents a 5.38% increase from the 2019 maximum of $484,350. The percentage increase is based on the estimated increase in the average U.S. home price over the last four quarters, as published in FHFA’s third quarter 2019 House Price Index report.
Special statutory provisions apply to loan limit calculations for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The maximum loan limit in these areas will be $765,600 for one-unit properties.
The FHFA stated that due to rising home values, the 2020 maximum conforming loan limits will be higher in all but 43 counties or county equivalents in the United States. For a complete list of the FHFA’s published maximum loan limits, click here.
High Cost Area Limits
In addition to general baseline loan limits, the FHFA has increased the “jumbo” conforming loan limits applicable to “high cost areas,” where 115% of the local median home value exceeds the baseline loan limit. The maximum loan limit for high-cost areas in 2020 will be $765,600 (increased from $726,525 in 2019). This “ceiling” is equivalent to 150 percent of the baseline loan limit of $510,400.
Any change to conforming loan limits can impact the following state high costs tests: California, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and South Carolina. Specifically, certain state high cost tests are determined in part by reference to the then-current conforming loan limits. For more information about these high cost tests and others, please see DocMagic’s State-Specific High Cost Memos here.
DocMagic’s Compliance Department will be modifying state-specific high cost tests that are impacted by the 2020 increase to ensure that the appropriate loan limit selects for the state and county in which a secured property is located. Please note that for both North Carolina and Tennessee, the increase in “jumbo” conforming loan limits will have no impact on their respective high costs tests.[1]
For high cost areas, the applicable loan limits for one-unit properties in certain states and counties are listed below. Note that states in which DocMagic’s Compliance Department will be updating its high cost test to reference the correct jumbo conforming loan limit are denoted by an asterisk before the state.
Alaska:
$765,600 (All Counties)
*California: $510,400 – all counties except as follows:
$765,600 (Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Marin, Orange, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz)
$764,750 (Napa)
$713,000 (Ventura)
$704,950 (Sonoma)
$701,500 (San Diego)
$690,000 (San Luis Obispo)
$672,750 (Monterey)
$625,500 (Santa Barbara)
$575,000 (Adams)
$569,250 (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Yolo)
$529,000 (Mono)
Colorado: $510,400 – all counties except as follows:
$765,600 (Garfield, Pitkin)
$750,950 (Eagle)
$644,000 (Boulder)
$638,250 (Routt)
$625,500 (Lake, San Miguel, Summit)
$575,000 (Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, Jefferson, Park)
Connecticut: $510,400 – all counties except as follows:
$601,450 (Fairfield)
*Dist. Of Columbia: $765,600
Florida: $510,400 – all counties except as follows:
$552,000 (Monroe)
*Georgia: $510,400 – all counties except as follows:
$515,200 (Greene)
Hawaii:
$765,600 (All Counties)
Idaho: $510,400 – all counties except as follows:
($765,600 (Teton)
$625,500 (Blaine, Camas, Lincoln)
*Indiana: $510,400 – all counties
*Maine: $510,400 – all counties
Maryland: $510,400 – all counties except as follows:
$765,600 (Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, Prince George’s)
$520,950 (Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard, Queen Anne’s, Baltimore)
Massachusetts: $510,400 – all counties except as follows:
$765,600 (Dukes, Nantucket)
$690,000 (Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk)
New Hampshire: $510,400 – all counties except as follows:
$690,000 (Rockingham, Strafford)
New Jersey: $510,400 – all counties except as follows:
$765,600 (Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union)
*New Mexico: $510,400 – all counties
*New York: $510,400 – all counties except as follows:
$765,600 (Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, Westchester)
$726,525 (Dutchess, Orange)
North Carolina: $510,400 – all counties except as follows:
$625,500 (Camden, Pasquotank, Perquimans)
Pennsylvania: $510,400 – all counties except as follows:
$765,600 (Pike)
*South Carolina: $510,400 – all counties
Tennessee: $510,400 – all counties except as follows:
$563,500 (Cannon, Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Macon, Maury, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale, Williamson, Wilson)
$534,750 (Hickman)
*Texas: $510,400 – all counties
Utah: $510,400 – all counties except as follows:
$762,450 (Summit, Wasatch)
$646,300 (Box Elder, Davis, Morgan)
$600,300 (Salt Lake, Tooele, Weber)
Virginia: $510,400 – all counties except as follows:
$765,600 (Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudon, Madison, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Warren, Alexandria City, Fairfax City, Falls Church City, Fredericksburg City, Manassas City, Manassas Park City)
$535,900 (Amelia, Caroline, Charles City, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, King and Queen, King William, Louisa, Madison, New Kent, Powhatan, Prince George, Sussex, Colonial Heights City, Hopewell City, Petersburg City, Richmond City)
Washington: $510,400 – all counties except as follows:
$741,750 (King, Pierce, Snohomish)
West Virginia: $510,400 – all counties except as follows:
$765,600 (Jefferson)
Wyoming: $510,400 – all counties except as follows:
$765,600 (Teton)
Guam: $765,600
Northern Mariana Islands: $510,400 – all counties except as follows:
$524,400 (Northern Islands)
$529,000 (Saipan)
$532,450 (Tinian)
Virgin Islands:
$765,600 (St. Croix)
$765,600 (St. John)
$765,600 (St. Thomas)
Updates to conforming loan limits will be implemented into the applicable DocMagic state high cost tests beginning January 1, 2020.
Please contact DocMagic’s Compliance Department if you have any questions regarding this article.
[1] The North Carolina High-Cost Home Loan Law applies to a loan if, among other things, the principal amount (or the maximum credit limit in the case of an open-end loan) of the loan does not exceed the lesser of $300,000, or the Fannie Mae conforming loan limit for a single-family dwelling. The Tennessee Home Loan Protection Act applies to a loan if, among other things, the principal amount of the loan does not exceed the lesser of $350,000, or the Fannie Mae conforming loan limit of a single-family dwelling.
