United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) increased its conforming loan ceiling on Wednesday, months before the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is expected to announce official 2026 limits in November.

Effective immediately, UWM raised the one-unit conforming loan limit from $806,500 to $819,000 for conventional and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loans. The change reflects the company’s forecast of a 1.5% increase in FHFA’s baseline in 2026. 

“This proactive move allows brokers to offer larger loan amounts, enabling more borrowers to avoid moving into high balance or jumbo loans, which typically come with higher rates and stricter underwriting guidelines,” the company said in a statement. 

The update pushes UWM’s maximum funding above $1 million. New ceilings include: $1,048,500 for two-unit conventional loans (increased from $1,032,650); $1,268,000 for three-unit conventional loans (increased from $1,248,150); and $1,575,000 four-unit conventional loans (increased from $1,551,250).

Each November, the FHFA sets baseline conforming loan limits that dictate the maximum size of mortgages Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can purchase. For 2025, the limit rose 5.2%, a smaller gain compared to the 5.5% increase in 2024, reflecting slower home price growth.

Raising conforming limits allows more buyers to finance higher-priced homes with conventional loans—an important lever as affordability challenges persist. But it also reignites debate over whether government-backed mortgages should support balances approaching $1 million, a threshold first breached in select areas in 2022.

The move comes amid renewed political attention to loan caps. There had been speculation that the Trump administration might push to cut conforming loan limits as part of a broader effort to shrink the footprint of the government-sponsored enterprises. But FHFA Director Bill Pulte dismissed that idea in March. 

“There are no plans to do anything as it relates to the conforming loan limit,” Pulte told CNBC’s Diana Olick, ending chatter that the agency could move to substantially reduce the size of loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Here are the increases in FHFA’s conforming loan limit for one-unit loans for the lower 48 states since 2016.

  • 2016: $417,000
  • 2017: $424,100 — 1.7% increase
  • 2018: $453,100 — 6.8% increase
  • 2019: $484,350 — 6.8% increase
  • 2020: $510,400 — 5.3% increase
  • 2021: $548,250 — 7.4% increase
  • 2022: $647,200 — 18% increase
  • 2023: $726,200 — 12.2% increase
  • 2024: $766,550 — 5.5% increase
  • 2025: $806,500 – 5.2% increase
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