2026 FHA Loan Limits Explained: How Much House You Can Actually Buy

Every FHA buyer eventually hits the same wall: you find a house you love, and then you wonder whether FHA will even lend enough to buy it. The answer lives in one number that changes every year and every county, the FHA loan limit. Here's how it works for 2026, with the actual figures for the Arizona and Texas counties our buyers shop in.

What Is an FHA Loan Limit?

An FHA loan limit is the largest loan the FHA will insure for a given county and property size. It's not a price cap on what you can buy, and it's not your budget. It's the ceiling on the amount FHA will back. If a home costs more than the limit allows, you either bring a bigger down payment to close the gap or use a different loan type.

The FHA ties these limits to local home prices. Expensive counties get higher limits; average-cost counties sit at the national floor. The FHA resets them every calendar year, which is why "2026 limits" matters. Using last year's number can cost you a house.

What Is the 2026 FHA Loan Limit Floor?

For most of the country, the 2026 single-family floor is $541,287. That's the baseline for standard-cost counties. The national ceiling for the highest-cost areas runs all the way up to $1,249,125, though no county in Arizona or Texas comes close to that.

Multi-unit properties get higher limits, which matters if you're thinking about buying a duplex and renting the other side. But for a single-family home, the floor is your starting point, and in a lot of Arizona and Texas counties, the floor is the exact number.

2026 FHA Loan Limits for Arizona Counties

Here's where Arizona buyers actually stand for a one-unit home:

County	Metro areas	2026 one-unit limit
Maricopa & Pinal	Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale, Glendale	$557,750
Pima	Tucson	$541,287
Coconino	Flagstaff	$609,500
Other AZ counties	statewide	$541,287

Maricopa County covers the bulk of metro Phoenix, and its $557,750 limit gives buyers real room in Mesa, Glendale, and much of Scottsdale. Coconino County (Flagstaff) carries the highest limit in the state at $609,500 because mountain-town prices run higher. Full detail on the Arizona market lives on our Arizona FHA hub.

2026 FHA Loan Limits for Texas Counties

Texas is bigger and more varied, so the limits spread out more:

County / MSA	Metro areas	2026 one-unit limit
Travis + Austin MSA	Austin, Round Rock	$571,550
Dallas–Fort Worth MSA	Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, Frisco	$563,500
Harris	Houston	$541,287
Bexar	San Antonio	$541,287
El Paso	El Paso	$541,287

The Austin metro carries the highest FHA limit in Texas at $571,550, which reflects how far prices climbed there. Dallas–Fort Worth sits at $563,500. San Antonio, Houston, and El Paso hold at the $541,287 floor. One caution on Harris County: sources occasionally disagree on the Houston figure, so if you're shopping there specifically, verify your exact county on the HUD lookup before you write an offer. Our Texas FHA hub tracks the metro-by-metro picture.

How Do You Look Up Your Exact County Limit?

Never guess this number. The FHA publishes an official county-by-county lookup, and it's the only source that settles it. Enter your state and county at HUD's FHA mortgage limits lookup and it returns the current one-, two-, three-, and four-unit limits. We check it on every file, and so should you before you fall in love with a listing at the top of your range.

What If the Home Costs More Than the Limit?

Say you're in Maricopa County, the limit is $557,750, and you want a $580,000 house. You're $22,250 over the FHA ceiling. You have a few real options:

• Bring the gap in cash. FHA will insure up to the limit; you cover the difference on top of your normal down payment.
• Shop just under the limit. Plenty of inventory sits below $557,750 in the Phoenix metro.
• Consider a conventional loan with a higher limit if the numbers favor it. We'll run both and tell you which actually costs less.

Do FHA Loan Limits Change Every Year?

Yes, and that's not a technicality, it can directly change what you're able to buy. The FHA recalculates limits every calendar year based on a percentage of the conforming loan limits set by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which in turn track national home-price movement. When home prices rise, the limits generally rise with them the following January.

Practically, this means two things for you. First, always confirm you're looking at the current year's number; a limit you saw last spring may already be outdated. Second, if you're right at the edge of affordability in a hot market, the January limit increase can occasionally nudge a home back into reach that was just out of FHA range a few months earlier. We watch the annual update closely so our buyers aren't working off stale figures.

Are FHA Limits Higher for Duplexes and Multi-Unit Homes?

They are, and by a meaningful amount. Everything above refers to one-unit (single-family) limits. FHA sets separate, higher ceilings for two-, three-, and four-unit properties, because those homes cost more and can generate rental income. In a standard-cost county sitting at the $541,287 one-unit floor, the two-unit limit runs well into the $600,000s, and three- and four-unit limits climb higher still.

That matters if you're considering buying a duplex, living in one side, and renting the other. You get a larger loan ceiling and, with an owner-occupied multi-unit, the same low FHA down payment. The exact multi-unit figures for your county are on the same HUD lookup tool linked above, just read across the columns.

How Does the Limit Connect to Your Real Budget?

The limit is the ceiling, but your budget is usually set by your income and debt, not the FHA maximum. Most first-time buyers qualify for a payment well below their county limit. Your debt-to-income ratio, your down payment, and your credit score do the real work of setting your price range. We explain how the income side works in how FHA debt-to-income limits really work, and you can model a payment at any price point on the FHA payment calculator.

If you're still fuzzy on how the whole program fits together, start with what is an FHA loan and come back here for the numbers.

Loan limits change every January, and county lines matter more than most buyers expect. If you want a straight answer on what you can buy in your specific Arizona or Texas county this year, take our qualifier quiz and we'll match your budget to the right limit before you start touring homes.

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DISCLAIMER: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice, a loan commitment, or a guarantee of any terms or rates. All mortgage lending is subject to credit and property approval. Rates, terms, and conditions are subject to change without notice. Not all borrowers will qualify for every program mentioned. Contact a licensed loan originator for information specific to your situation.

Cornerstone First Mortgage, LLC | NMLS #173855 | Equal Housing Opportunity. Licensed by the Texas Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending. Arizona Mortgage Broker License #0910407. www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org

This material is not from HUD or FHA and has not been approved by HUD, FHA, or any government agency. Cornerstone First Mortgage, LLC is not affiliated with or acting on behalf of any government agency.

Zac Cook is a licensed mortgage loan originator (NMLS #2111496).