Orange County, CA Loan Limits for 2017

Home buyers in Orange County, California will get higher loan limits in 2017, thanks to a nationwide revision announced at the end of 2016. The 2017 single-family loan limit for Orange County will go up to $636,150.

This applies to FHA, VA and conventional (conforming) mortgage programs. There are higher caps for multi-family properties like duplexes and triplexes, as shown below.

If you’re a home buyer purchasing a single-family property in Orange County, California, the 2017 loan limit is $636,150. Anything above this amount is considered a jumbo mortgage.

Orange County, CA Loan Limits for 2017

Here are the revised (higher) loan limits for Orange County, California in 2017:

• Single-family property: $636,150
• Two-family property: $814,500
• Three-family property: $984,525
• Four-family property: $1,223,475

Note: These caps apply to “regular” conventional / conforming mortgage loans, as well as FHA and VA-backed mortgages. All programs have been aligned for 2017, in terms of loan limits. In this context, a “two-family” property is a duplex-style home, a “three-family” property is a triplex, and so on.

Rising Home Prices Bring Higher Mortgage Caps

Loan limits are based on median home prices at the county level, and also nationally. They are reviewed every year and sometimes revised. Whenever home prices rise significantly from one year to the next, there is a chance that federal housing officials will increase loan limits to keep pace with higher housing costs.

This is what happened from 2016 to 2017. In November of 2016, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced the following:

“This year, median home values generally rose in high-cost areas.  Because the baseline loan limit will be higher in 2017, the new ceiling limit will also be higher. The new ceiling loan limit, which applies in areas with the most expensive homes [including Orange County, CA], will be $636,150 (150 percent of $424,100) for one-unit properties…“

This is why the 2017 Orange County loan limits are higher than last year. It’s a response to rising home values nationwide, and also within Southern California.

House values across the county rose steadily in 2016. According to the real estate information company Zillow, the median home price in Orange County rose 4.8% last year, climbing to $671,100 by the start of 2017. So the higher loan limits will come as welcome news for local home buyers and mortgage shoppers.

Related: Orange County housing forecast

Conforming vs. Jumbo Mortgages

Having higher Orange County loan limits means that borrowers could have more properties to choose from in 2017, without venturing into “jumbo” mortgage territory.

And speaking of jumbo loans, they are still widely available in Orange County. By definition, a jumbo mortgage is one that exceeds the conforming limits mentioned above. As a result of their size, jumbo mortgage loans cannot be sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Contact us: Planning to buy a house in Orange County, California? Do you need mortgage financing to make it happen? We can help! Bridgepoint Funding has been helping borrowers in the Golden State for more than 15 years. Contact us today for a mortgage rate quote, or with any questions you have.