November 17, 2016
At the time of this writing, FHA loan limits for 2017 have not been published yet, but borrowers who need to know mortgage loan limits can look them up at the FHA official site. No matter whether you’re looking for loan limit information for the current year or for 2017, there is some important information to keep in mind.
First, FHA loan limits in general are not uniform across the country. Loan limits vary depending on whether the market you’re buying in is considered a high-cost area or a market where costs are below national averages.
When you are using the search tool on the FHA Mortgage Limits page on the FHA official site, you can look up the limits by state, county, or “Metropolitan Statistical Area”. Looking up multiple areas may give you a better idea of what’s available in nearby housing markets in terms of loan limits.
According to the official site, “The results page will also include a Median Sale Price value for each jurisdiction. Those are the median price estimates used for loan limit determination. They are for the high-price county within each defined metropolitan area, and for the high-price year starting with 2008 and ending in the year just prior to the effective year of the loan limits.”
When you get these results, it’s important to keep in mind that, “…these median prices only directly determine the actual (1-unit) loan limits when the calculated limit (115% of the median price) is between the national ceiling and floor values for the loan limits. Limits for multiple-unit properties are fixed multiples of the 1-unit limits. The full set of county-level median price estimates for the year just prior to the loan-limits year are available in the downloadable mortgage limits dataset accessible via the link” found at the bottom of the FHA Mortgage Limits page.
Mortgage loan limits for 2016 may or may not change for a given area in the new year. It’s not uncommon for there to be some adjustments in some markets but not others. FHA loan limits for 2017 may change in some areas depending on fluctuations in the housing market or other conditions. Sometimes changes in federal law or other factors also affect mortgage limits in general. It’s always best to check in the new year to see if the numbers in your housing market have changed.
The FHA announces the new year’s limits, often a few weeks before the end of the old year. We will publish updates as new information becomes available.
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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