The United States will see an increase in 2019 loan limits set by the Federal Housing Administration.

Wealthier locations of the United States will have their loan limit raised to $726,525. This limit was previously set at $679,650. The floor will also be increased from $294,515 up to $314,827.

Starting January 1^st, 2019, these new FHA loan limit increases will go into effect.

According to the National Housing Act, it is mandatory that the FHA sets single-family forward loan limits at 115% of median house prices, along with the floor and ceiling limitations. Metropolitan Statistical Area and county are how the FHA computes mortgage limits.

The 2019 floor loan limit will be calculated as 65% of the national conforming loan limit of $484,350. This minimum will cover locations where 11% of the median home prices are less than the minimum limits.

Locations where the loan limit is greater than the floor will be labeled as a wealthy area, and the Housing and Economic Recovery Act states that it is mandatory for the FHA to set its ceiling loan limit for wealthy area at 150% of the national conforming limitation.

The following chart displays the share and number of counties with FHA loan limits with regard to the floor and ceiling:

The FHA increases the number of counties that raise FHA loan limits every single year. In 2016, the FHA only raised loan limits for 188 counties. However, that number spiked in 2017 to 2,948 counties. 2018 saw another increase to 3,011 counties in 2018. This number will grow to 3,053 counties for 2019 according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

More information on the FHA’s letter regarding forward mortgage limitations for 2019 can be found here.