Loan limits for 2, 3 and 4 unit homes

Why limits rise with the number of units

A conforming loan limit is the highest loan amount for a mortgage that Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac can acquire. A mortgage above the county’s limit is called a jumbo loan. Lenders set their own rules for jumbo loans.

A two-to-four-unit home is one building with two, three or four separate living units, such as a duplex, triplex or fourplex. These homes have their own, higher baseline limits, and in high-cost areas FHFA works out their limits from the one-unit amount with fixed multipliers. The larger limits reflect the home’s unit count, but they still cap the loan amount, not the home’s price.

2026 conforming limits

FHFA sets conforming limits each year under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. It updates them at the end of November, and the new limits take effect on January 1. These are the 2026 baseline limits and the highest limits allowed in high-cost areas:

• Two units: baseline $1,066,250; ceiling $1,599,375.
• Three units: baseline $1,288,800; ceiling $1,933,200.
• Four units: baseline $1,601,750; ceiling $2,402,625.

For comparison, the 2026 one-unit baseline is $832,750, and its ceiling is $1,249,125. The ceiling is the maximum high-cost limit; a county’s limit may be lower. Most counties get the baseline.

How high-cost multi-unit limits are calculated

In a high-cost area, FHFA sets the one-unit limit at 115 percent of the local median home value when that amount is above the baseline. The amount cannot exceed 150 percent of the baseline. FHFA estimates median home values using figures from the Federal Housing Administration, part of HUD.

For two-, three- and four-unit homes, FHFA applies HERA’s fixed multipliers to the area’s one-unit amount: 1.28021583 for two units, 1.54748201 for three units, and 1.92314149 for four units. Each result is capped at that unit count’s ceiling. County limits are grouped by metro and micropolitan areas, and every county in a group gets the value of its highest-cost county.

For example, FHFA’s 2026 calculation for Santa Barbara County used a median home value of $819,000. Multiplying it by 115 percent gave a one-unit limit of $941,850. This county calculation helps show how an area’s one-unit amount is set before the multi-unit multiplier is applied.

FHA limits and homes with five or more units

FHA forward mortgage limits have a floor and a ceiling for each unit count. For 2026, the two-unit floor is $693,050 and ceiling is $1,599,375; the three-unit floor is $837,700 and ceiling is $1,933,200; and the four-unit floor is $1,041,125 and ceiling is $2,402,625. The one-unit floor is $541,287 and ceiling is $1,249,125.

The FHA floor applies where 115 percent of the median home price is below the floor. FHA limits vary by county, and some high-cost county limits are below the ceiling. HUD’s 2026 limits apply to FHA case numbers assigned on or after January 1, 2026; county figures are available through HUD’s FHA Mortgage Limits lookup. Five or more units fall outside the conforming limits in this table and use commercial, or multifamily, financing.