Good news for home buyers and sellers: The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) just increased the conforming loan limits for 2023, making it easier to qualify for a loan.
A conforming loan meets government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s guidelines, which are much more flexible than the ones for jumbo loans (amounts above the conforming limits). Having a higher conforming limit in an expensive area like San Francisco means more people may be eligible to buy. And they can do so without the larger down payments, higher credit scores and cash reserves that jumbos often require.
2022 and 2023 conforming loan limits for one-unit properties (single-family homes and condos), as well as two- to four- unit properties are shown below. There are two types of conforming loans—traditional and high balance. The Bay Area is a high cost zone, so the high-balance limit applies. These limits are in effect now. (Special thanks to Gordon Friedman at Guarantee Mortgage for all this info and the table.)
