Conforming Loan Limit Increases to $647,200

High-Cost Areas increase to $970,800

As noted earlier, the relevant FHFA quarterly index increased 18.04% year-over-year.

Here is the official announcement from the FHFA: FHFA Announces Conforming Loan Limits for 2022

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today announced the conforming loan limits (CLLs) for mortgages to be acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) in 2022. In most of the U.S., the 2022 CLL for one-unit properties will be $647,200, an increase of $98,950 from $548,250 in 2021. 

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) requires that the baseline CLL for the Enterprises be adjusted each year to reflect the change in the average U.S. home price. Earlier today, FHFA published its third quarter 2021 FHFA House Price Index® (FHFA HPI®) report, which includes statistics for the increase in the average U.S. home value over the last four quarters. According to the nominal, seasonally adjusted, expanded-data FHFA HPI, house prices increased 18.05 percent, on average, between the third quarters of 2020 and 2021. Therefore, the baseline CLL in 2022 will increase by the same percentage. ​

For areas in which 115 percent of the local median home value exceeds the baseline conforming loan limit, the applicable loan limit will be higher than the baseline loan limit. HERA establishes the high-cost area limit in those areas as a multiple of the area median home value, while setting a "ceiling" at 150 percent of the baseline limit. Median home values generally increased in high-cost areas in 2021, which increased their CLL. The new ceiling loan limit for one-unit properties will be $970,800, which is 150 percent of $647,200. 

Here are the limits by county: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Conforming Loan Limits for Mortgages Acquired in Calendar Year 2022 (PDF) (or in Excel)

The FHA will announce insured limits in a few days. The limits are set at 65% of the FHFA CLLs, so the low-cost area will be around $420,680 and high-cost areas will be around $970,800.