Federal Housing Finance Agency updates: loan limits, income limits and housing goals

Written by Samantha SheltonNMLS 1647301Updated October 2026

The Federal Housing Finance Agency update that touches the most home buyers is the annual conforming loan limit. FHFA set the 2026 baseline at $832,750 for a one-unit property in its November 25, 2025 announcement, $26,250 above the 2025 baseline of $806,500, with a high-cost ceiling of $1,249,125.

Everything else FHFA did runs through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rather than through your file directly: the 2026 to 2028 Enterprise Housing Goals final rule effective February 23, 2026, multifamily purchase caps of $88 billion per Enterprise set on November 24, 2025, and a low-income housing tax credit investment cap doubled to $4 billion combined on August 5, 2025.

Learn what FHFA actually controls, which dated announcements changed the numbers on a mortgage file, and how to check any figure yourself. For the pricing side of the market, start with our guide to mortgage rates and the market.

Key takeaways:

• The 2026 conforming loan limit is $832,750: FHFA raised the baseline one-unit value by $26,250 from the 2025 figure of $806,500 and set the high-cost ceiling at $1,249,125, and all 83 Michigan counties use the baseline.
• Housing goal benchmarks were reset for 2026 to 2028: The low-income home purchase benchmark dropped from 25.0% to 21.0% and the very low-income benchmark from 6.0% to 3.5%, effective February 23, 2026.
• The 80%-of-AMI cap runs on the Enterprises’ own income tables: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac each publish and update their own area median income limits, and the Selling Guide requires lenders to use Fannie Mae’s figures rather than any other published version. Those limits decide who fits under the 80%-of-AMI cap on the two main 3%-down conventional programs.
• Lenders can now choose VantageScore 4.0 or Classic FICO: Under FHFA’s credit score policy, VantageScore 4.0 opened to all Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac approved lenders on September 9, 2026, and the Enterprises aligned their upfront fees across the two models on September 30, 2026.

What does the FHFA actually control?

FHFA controls three things that reach a borrower: the conforming loan limit, the affordable-housing benchmarks Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac must hit, and, since September 6, 2008, the operation of both Enterprises as conservator.

The agency was created by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, Public Law 110-289, signed July 30, 2008. It regulates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks, and HERA gave it the authority it used weeks later to place both Enterprises into conservatorship.

Just as important is what FHFA does not do. It does not set your interest rate, does not underwrite your loan, and does not write the line-item eligibility rules you get judged against. Those live in the Enterprises’ own selling guides and change on their own announcement schedule, covered separately in our roundups of Fannie Mae updates and Freddie Mac updates. FHFA also has no authority over FHA, VA or USDA loans, which HUD, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Agriculture administer.

What is the current conforming loan limit, and how does FHFA set it?

The 2026 baseline is $832,750 for a one-unit property, up 3.26% from $806,500 in 2025. FHFA is required by HERA to adjust the baseline every year in step with average U.S. home price movement, and it publishes the new values each November for the following calendar year. As of October 2026, FHFA had not yet announced the 2027 values.

The mechanism makes each November’s announcement predictable in direction, if not size. FHFA measures its own house price index between third quarters and applies that percentage: prices rose 3.26% between the third quarters of 2024 and 2025, so the 2026 baseline rose 3.26%. The prior year’s 5.2% increase produced the larger $39,950 jump into 2025. The ceiling is 150% of the baseline and applies only in counties FHFA designates high cost. Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands run on separate statutory limits, at a $1,249,125 baseline and $1,873,675 ceiling for 2026. Values rose in all but 32 counties or county equivalents.

Hypothetical example, not an offer. What the increase buys in practice: with 10% down, the 2026 limit supports a purchase price of roughly $925,280 before the loan becomes a jumbo, versus about $896,110 under the 2025 limit, or about $29,170 more house at the same down payment percentage.¹ For most buyers that is irrelevant, because most loans sit nowhere near the cap. It matters at the top of the market and on two- to four-unit properties. Look up your county in FHFA’s conforming loan limit values by county, and if your number lands above the limit, our guide to qualifying for a jumbo loan covers what changes.

How area median income limits decide who qualifies for 3%-down programs

The 80%-of-AMI cap on the two main 3%-down conventional programs runs on income tables the Enterprises publish themselves, not on a single government list. Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide is explicit at B5-6-01, HomeReady Mortgage Loan and Borrower Eligibility: to be eligible, total annual qualifying income may not exceed 80% of the AMI for the property’s location, and “lenders must refer to the AMIs that Fannie Mae uses in Desktop Underwriter or on Fannie Mae’s website and may not rely on other published versions.” Freddie Mac publishes its own AMI files and eligibility map for Home Possible.

Each Enterprise updates those tables on its own schedule and announces the cutover in its own notice, so the question that decides a file is which year’s table your loan was run against. Two things follow for a buyer:

• A denial based on income can expire: If you were over the 80%-of-AMI cap under the prior year’s table, an updated table may put you back under it. Re-run the number against the current table rather than assuming last year’s answer, and ask your loan officer which table the file was scored on.
• Two programs sit behind the same cap: Fannie Mae’s HomeReady and Freddie Mac’s Home Possible both allow as little as 3% down with reduced mortgage insurance at or below 80% of AMI. Read Fannie Mae’s HomeReady income and eligibility requirements and Freddie Mac’s Home Possible program details, then compare them in our guides to HomeReady mortgages and Freddie Mac’s Home Possible loans.

Which credit score models can lenders use on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans?

FHFA decides which credit score models the Enterprises accept, and that changed in steps. On July 8, 2025, FHFA announced that lenders could use either VantageScore 4.0 or Classic FICO, with the three-bureau (tri-merge) credit report requirement kept in place. A limited VantageScore 4.0 rollout began April 22, 2026. On September 9, 2026, VantageScore 4.0 became available to all Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac approved lenders without prior approval, and on September 30, 2026 the Enterprises aligned their upfront fees across the two models.

• One model per loan: The lender picks Classic FICO or VantageScore 4.0, and every borrower on the loan is scored on the same model.
• Classic FICO stays: No retirement date for Classic FICO has been announced, and manually underwritten loans stay on Classic FICO.
• FICO 10T is approved but not live: FHFA approved it, but as of October 2026 it is not yet eligible for delivery to the Enterprises.
• Tri-merge stays: Lenders still pull all three credit bureaus. Optional two-bureau (bi-merge) reporting has no implementation date.

The current timeline sits on FHFA’s credit score page. If your scores differ by bureau or by model, ask your loan officer which model your file was run on.

What changed in the 2026 to 2028 Enterprise housing goals

FHFA lowered most single-family benchmarks and consolidated two area-based subgoals into one. The 2026 to 2028 Enterprise Housing Goals final rule was published December 23, 2025 at 90 FR 59948 and took effect February 23, 2026, replacing the 2025 to 2027 rule published December 30, 2024 at 89 FR 106253, which had been effective February 28, 2025. Where the two conflict, the newer rule controls.

The single 16.0% subgoal merges what had been a 4.0% low-income census tracts subgoal and a 12.0% minority census tracts subgoal. FHFA also removed the temporary measurement buffers set for 2025 to 2027, reasoning that benchmarks now sitting below forecast market levels no longer need the cushion.

Be careful how much you read into this. Housing goals are purchase-mix targets measured across an Enterprise’s entire book for a calendar year. They are not underwriting rules, and no loan officer can approve or decline you because of them. What they influence is how hard the Enterprises pursue affordable-segment volume, which shows up in product design and pricing incentives long before anyone’s approval letter.

Multifamily purchase caps and the LIHTC increase

FHFA caps how much multifamily volume each Enterprise may buy in a calendar year, and it set the 2026 cap at $88 billion each, $176 billion combined, in a November 24, 2025 announcement. That follows 2025 caps of $73 billion each, $146 billion combined, roughly a 4.3% increase over the $70 billion per-Enterprise caps for 2024. In both years FHFA required at least 50% of each Enterprise’s multifamily business to be mission-driven affordable housing, and excluded loans financing workforce housing from the caps entirely.

Separately, on August 5, 2025, FHFA doubled the equity each Enterprise may invest in low-income housing tax credit properties, from $1 billion to $2 billion annually, or $4 billion combined. Half is reserved for LIHTC markets FHFA identifies as difficult to serve, and at least 20% of that half goes to Duty to Serve rural communities.

Neither item changes a purchase mortgage. Both change rental supply, which is the part a buyer feels secondhand: apartment financing capacity affects rent trajectories in a metro, which affects how fast a renter saves a down payment and what rent assumptions pencil out on a two- to four-unit property. That is the honest size of the effect: real, slow and indirect.

Are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac still in conservatorship?

Yes. As of October 2026, both Enterprises remain in FHFA conservatorship, where they have been since September 6, 2008, and no enacted law has ended it. Comments from the Administration about a possible public stock offering are not a change in status: Freddie Mac’s quarterly filing for the period ended June 30, 2026 still says the company has operated in conservatorship since September 2008, with FHFA as its conservator. Proposals to release them circulate constantly and bills get introduced, but an introduced bill is not a law. Until Congress acts or FHFA formally terminates the conservatorships, the structure is unchanged. Our explainer on how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stabilize the housing market covers what conservatorship does day to day.

Two dated items from the regulatory side show the difference between a finished rule and a proposal:

• Finished: FHFA repealed its own Fair Lending, Fair Housing, and Equitable Housing Finance Plans regulation at 12 CFR part 1293, published February 6, 2026 at 91 FR 5278 and effective March 9, 2026. That removed an FHFA reporting and planning framework. It did not and could not amend the Fair Housing Act or the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, federal statutes that continue to bind lenders, and it has no bearing on Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which is separate state law.²
• Proposed, not enacted: FHFA proposed rescinding and replacing its Enterprise Duty to Serve Underserved Markets regulation in a notice of proposed rulemaking published June 24, 2026 at 91 FR 37848, comments due July 24, 2026. A proposed rule changes nothing until a final rule publishes with an effective date. As of early October 2026, FHFA’s rulemaking docket lists only that proposal and a June 26, 2026 correction at 91 FR 38566, with no final rule.

Where do FHA and VA announce their own rule changes?

HUD and the Department of Veterans Affairs publish on their own tracks, so an FHFA announcement never changes an FHA or VA file by itself. HUD speaks to lenders through numbered Mortgagee Letters. HUD’s Mortgagee Letters index, checked October 28, 2026, lists 2026-12, “Build-To-Rent” Developments Underwriting Eligibility, as its newest letter, along with these earlier 2026 letters:

• 2026-11: Updated Minimum Decision Credit Score Methodology for the Implementation of Alternative Credit Scores, HUD’s own letter for FHA loans. FHFA’s credit score policy reaches only Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
• 2026-10: Updates to FHA Quality Control Requirements for Appraisal Field Reviews.
• 2026-07: Rescission of the Important Notice to Homebuyers Form HUD-92900-B Requirement.
• 2026-06: Increase in the Maximum Number of Draw Requests for Limited 203(k) Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance Program.

Letters do not stay loose forever. According to HUD’s list of superseded single family policy documents, retired letters, handbooks and notices are superseded in full by HUD Handbook 4000.1, the FHA Single Family Housing Policy Handbook, and are no longer active, so the handbook is where a settled FHA rule lives. Our FHA loan guide covers the program itself.

VA uses Circulars. VA’s circular index shows Circular 26-26-5, dated October 27, 2026, on remitting VA partial claim payments via Fedwire, and Circular 26-26-1, dated February 17, 2026, updating VA’s state fees and charges deviations list. Entries on that index carry either a rescission date or the note “Valid until rescinded,” which tells you whether a circular still applies. For the program basics, see our guides to VA loans and qualifying for a VA loan.

Which mortgage rules does the CFPB write instead of FHFA?

The disclosures and deadlines on your file come from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s regulations, not FHFA’s. The CFPB’s regulations list includes 12 CFR Part 1026, Truth in Lending (Regulation Z), and 12 CFR Part 1024, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (Regulation X). The dates a buyer feels most sit in 12 CFR 1026.19, shown on eCFR as up to date as of October 26, 2026:

• Loan Estimate: the creditor must deliver it or place it in the mail not later than the third business day after receiving your written application, and not later than the seventh business day before consummation.
• Closing Disclosure: you must receive it no later than three business days before consummation.
• Appraisal copy: under 12 CFR 1002.14, the creditor provides each appraisal or other written valuation promptly upon completion, or three business days before consummation, whichever is earlier. Our guide to the home appraisal process explains what the appraiser checks.
• Ability to repay: 12 CFR 1026.43 requires a reasonable and good faith determination, at or before consummation, that you can repay the loan according to its terms.

The CFPB’s Loan Estimate explainer adds a practical point: some lenders lock your rate as part of issuing the Loan Estimate and some do not, so ask which applies to yours. Our guide to new mortgage disclosure rules walks through the forms, and the Loan Estimate check reads one in your browser. For the running list of federal rule changes, see mortgage regulation updates.

How to check FHFA updates yourself

Every FHFA item above traces to a dated instrument you can pull up in a minute: the only reliable defense against a confidently wrong summary. The one line without a Federal Register citation is the income-limit row, because those tables belong to the Enterprises and are refreshed on their schedules, not FHFA’s.

Three habits keep you current without chasing headlines. Read the loan limit announcement in late November. Demand a Federal Register citation before believing any claim about a rule, since a citation like 90 FR 59948 resolves to the actual text with its effective date attached. And for rates rather than rules, use a published survey such as Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey instead of a forecast. We track rule-side changes in our industry updates and rules hub.

What Michigan buyers should know

Michigan is a uniform-limit state, which makes the loan-limit half of this simple.

• All 83 counties use the $832,750 baseline: FHFA’s 2026 county loan limit file assigns the baseline one-unit value to every Michigan county, from Wayne and Oakland to Keweenaw. Michigan has no high-cost designations, so the $1,249,125 ceiling never applies here and a Metro Detroit buyer crosses into jumbo territory at the same number as an Upper Peninsula buyer.
• Multi-unit limits are where Michigan buyers feel it: A two-unit property conforms up to $1,066,250 and a four-unit up to $1,601,750 statewide, keeping most Michigan small multifamily purchases inside conventional financing rather than jumbo underwriting.
• Michigan’s census division led national price growth: FHFA’s House Price Index report for the second quarter of 2026, released August 25, 2026, put national prices up 2.1% year over year while the East North Central division that includes Michigan led all nine divisions at 4.5%. Rising prices are what push the conforming limit up each November.
• The Enterprises’ AMI limits are not MSHDA’s income limits: The 80%-of-AMI cap on HomeReady and Home Possible uses each Enterprise’s own published figures. The Michigan State Housing Development Authority sets separate household income limits and a statewide sales price limit of $566,355 from June 1, 2026 for the MI Home Loan, published on michigan.gov. Passing one test is not passing the other, so check both.

Does FHFA license the broker or lender on your loan?

No. FHFA oversees Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks. It does not license or examine the broker or lender working on your application. In Michigan, that license comes from the Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) under two state laws: Act 173 of 1987 for first mortgages and Act 125 of 1981, the Secondary Mortgage Loan Act, for second mortgages.

• The statute: MCL 445.1651 gives Act 173 its short title, the “mortgage brokers, lenders, and servicers licensing act,” and its history line reads immediate effect November 18, 1987.
• Renewal runs through NMLS each year: DIFS says any company that requests renewal through NMLS after December 31 is subject to a late penalty of $25 per day, up to a $1,000 maximum.
• Checking a license: FHFA keeps no list of licensed loan companies. The state does. Our guide to comparing mortgage lenders walks through the national NMLS Consumer Access lookup. Align Lending’s company license is NMLS #2041154.

None of this moves when FHFA publishes a new loan limit or housing goal; state licensing and federal agency policy change on separate calendars. Our guide to state-specific home buying regulations covers more of what Michigan sets on its own, and working with a mortgage broker explains what a licensed broker does on your file.

FAQ: Federal Housing Finance Agency updates

Here are answers to common questions about FHFA updates.

What is the current conforming loan limit?

The 2026 baseline is $832,750 for a one-unit property in most U.S. counties, with a $1,249,125 ceiling in designated high-cost areas and separate statutory limits in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Loans at or below your county’s limit can be sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac; anything above is a jumbo loan with its own standards. FHFA normally announces the next year’s values in late November.

How do area median income limit updates affect first-time home buyers?

They change who fits under the 80%-of-area-median-income cap on the two main 3%-down conventional programs. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac each refresh their AMI tables annually, so a buyer who was over the threshold on an older table can clear it on a newer one, and Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide requires lenders to use Fannie Mae’s own AMI figures rather than any other published version. Compare the routes in our guide to low down payment mortgages.

Do the FHFA multifamily caps affect me if I’m buying a house?

Not directly. The $88 billion per-Enterprise multifamily caps for 2026 and the $4 billion combined LIHTC investment cap channel financing toward apartments and affordable developments, not single-family purchase loans. The indirect effect is on rental supply and therefore rents, which matters if you are saving to buy or running rent assumptions on a two- to four-unit property.

Can my lender use VantageScore 4.0 instead of FICO?

Yes, if the loan is going to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Since September 9, 2026, all approved lenders may use VantageScore 4.0 without prior approval, and since September 30, 2026 the Enterprises charge the same upfront fees under either model. The lender chooses one model for the whole loan, manually underwritten loans stay on Classic FICO, and FICO 10T is approved but not yet deliverable. FHA, VA and USDA loans follow their own agencies’ rules, not FHFA’s.

Where can I check the FHFA loan limit for my county?

FHFA publishes conforming loan limit values by county on its website, updated each November for the following calendar year. The file lists one-, two-, three- and four-unit limits for every county and county equivalent, and every Michigan county carries the baseline. If your loan exceeds the one-unit limit, price jumbo options first. See qualifying for a jumbo loan.

Does the FHFA conforming loan limit set FHA loan limits?

Indirectly. HUD sets FHA limits in accordance with the National Housing Act but ties the national floor and ceiling to FHFA’s number. Mortgagee Letter 2025-23, dated December 11, 2025, sets the 2026 low-cost floor at 65% of the $832,750 conforming limit, $541,287 for one unit, and the high-cost ceiling at 150%, $1,249,125, for case numbers assigned on or after January 1, 2026. See FHA loan limits or our loan limit lookup.

Does the conforming loan limit matter on a VA loan?

Only for some veterans. VA Circular 26-25-10, dated December 1, 2025, says that when a veteran with partial entitlement seeks a loan of more than $144,000, remaining entitlement is 25% of the conforming limit minus previously used entitlement that was not restored. VA uses the one-unit limit even on a multi-unit purchase, the limit does not apply to IRRRLs, and the 2026 values apply to loans closed on or after January 1, 2026.

How does FHFA’s House Price Index measure home prices?

FHFA describes its House Price Index as a weighted, repeat-sales index: it measures average price changes in repeat sales or refinancings on the same single-family properties, using mortgages Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac have purchased or securitized since January 1975. Monthly and quarterly purchase-only indexes use sales prices, and a quarterly all-transactions index adds appraisal data. Our guide to housing affordability indices compares other market measures.

The bottom line on Federal Housing Finance Agency updates

FHFA’s updates matter in one direct way and several indirect ones. Directly: the 2026 baseline conforming loan limit is $832,750 for a one-unit property, up $26,250 from $806,500 in 2025, with a $1,249,125 high-cost ceiling, and all 83 Michigan counties use the baseline. Indirectly: the Enterprises’ own area median income tables decide who clears the 80%-of-AMI cap on HomeReady and Home Possible, lenders may now score a file with VantageScore 4.0 or Classic FICO, the 2026 to 2028 housing goals reset purchase-mix benchmarks without touching underwriting, and both Enterprises remain in conservatorship. Every one of those has a dated instrument behind it, which is how you tell a real change from an invented one.

If you’re ready to find out which lane your file belongs in, talk to Align Lending. We’ll shop your scenario across our lender network and show you the numbers side by side. Call 248-506-5727 or start online.

Footnotes:

1. Example figures in this article are hypothetical and for educational purposes only; they do not constitute an advertisement of credit terms or a rate quote under federal or state lending laws. The purchase-price figures shown assume a 10% down payment and ignore closing costs, mortgage insurance and any lender overlay. Your loan amount, rate and terms will depend on your application, your property and market conditions. Return to text.

2. Align Lending is an independent mortgage broker and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or acting at the direction of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Descriptions of federal rules here summarize the dated instruments cited and are not legal advice; regulations are amended and rescinded over time, so confirm current text in the Federal Register or with a qualified professional before relying on it. Return to text.

Sources: 2026 baseline conforming loan limit value of $832,750 for one-unit properties, an increase of $26,250 over 2025, driven by a 3.26% average house price increase between the third quarters of 2024 and 2025; ceiling of $1,249,125; Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and U.S. Virgin Islands values of $1,249,125 and $1,873,675; and values higher in all but 32 U.S. counties or county equivalents, Federal Housing Finance Agency news release, November 25, 2025. 2025 baseline of $806,500, an increase of $39,950 (5.2%) over 2024, and ceiling of $1,209,750, FHFA news release, November 26, 2024. Two-, three- and four-unit limits for 2026 ($1,066,250, $1,288,800 and $1,601,750) and 2025 ($1,032,650, $1,248,150 and $1,551,250), and assignment of the baseline one-unit value to all 83 Michigan counties, FHFA Full County Loan Limit List, HERA-based, calendar years 2025 and 2026. Establishment of FHFA and its conservatorship authority, Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, Public Law 110-289, enacted July 30, 2008; placement of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship on September 6, 2008 and FHFA regulation of the two Enterprises and 11 Federal Home Loan Banks, FHFA conservatorship history and agency overview. 2026 to 2028 Enterprise Housing Goals final rule, including single-family benchmarks of 21.0% low-income home purchase, 3.5% very low-income home purchase, 21.0% low-income refinance and a consolidated 16.0% low-income areas home purchase subgoal, unchanged multifamily benchmarks of 61.0%, 14.0% and 2.0%, and removal of the 2025 to 2027 measurement buffers, 90 FR 59948, published December 23, 2025, effective February 23, 2026. 2025 to 2027 Enterprise Housing Goals final rule benchmarks of 25.0%, 6.0%, 26.0%, 12.0% and 4.0%, 89 FR 106253, published December 30, 2024, effective February 28, 2025. 2026 multifamily loan purchase caps of $88 billion per Enterprise and $176 billion combined, the 50% mission-driven minimum and the workforce housing exclusion, FHFA news release, November 24, 2025. 2025 multifamily caps of $73 billion per Enterprise and $146 billion combined, an approximately 4.3% increase over the $70 billion per-Enterprise 2024 caps, FHFA fact sheet, November 18, 2024. Increase in the Enterprises’ LIHTC equity investment cap from $1 billion to $2 billion each, $4 billion combined, with half reserved for difficult-to-serve LIHTC markets and at least 20% of that half for Duty to Serve rural communities, FHFA news release, August 5, 2025. HomeReady qualifying income capped at 80% of the area median income for the property’s location, and the requirement that lenders use the AMIs Fannie Mae uses in Desktop Underwriter or publishes on its website rather than other published versions, Fannie Mae Selling Guide B5-6-01, HomeReady Mortgage Loan and Borrower Eligibility. Home Possible qualifying income limited to 80% of area median income, maximum 97% LTV, and annually published AMI files, Freddie Mac Home Possible product page and Home Possible income and property eligibility map. Repeal of 12 CFR part 1293, Fair Lending, Fair Housing, and Equitable Housing Finance Plans, 91 FR 5278, published February 6, 2026, effective March 9, 2026. Enterprise Duty to Serve Underserved Markets notice of proposed rulemaking, 91 FR 37848, published June 24, 2026, comments due July 24, 2026, and its correction at 91 FR 38566, June 26, 2026, FHFA rulemaking docket RIN 2590-AB64, checked October 2026. Credit score model timeline, including the July 8, 2025 interim policy permitting VantageScore 4.0 or Classic FICO under the tri-merge requirement, the April 22, 2026 limited VantageScore 4.0 rollout, the September 9, 2026 expansion to all approved lenders, the September 30, 2026 alignment of upfront fees, FICO 10T not yet eligible for delivery and no announced Classic FICO retirement date, FHFA Credit Score Models page, updated October 2, 2026. Conservatorship status, Freddie Mac Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2026. 2026 two-, three- and four-unit values also confirmed in FHFA’s Addendum, Calculating 2026 Conforming Loan Limit Values Under HERA. U.S. house prices up 2.1% year over year and 0.3% quarter over quarter in the second quarter of 2026, with the East North Central division leading all nine census divisions at 4.5%, FHFA House Price Index report released August 25, 2026. MI Home Loan statewide sales price limit of $566,355 after June 1, 2026, Michigan State Housing Development Authority MI Home Loan program page.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal, financial, or tax advice. Loan limits, agency rules, income limits and program requirements change and vary by county, property and program; confirm current figures with your lender and consult a qualified professional about your situation. Figures shown are illustrative, are not a rate quote or an offer of credit, and are subject to change. Align Lending is an independent Michigan mortgage broker, NMLS #2041154.

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