December 7

Orange County Loan Limits

Did you know that the maximum amount you can borrow for a mortgage may vary depending on the loan type and / or depending on the state or county you live?  Obviously, we’re addressing the 2023 Orange County, California Loan limits in this article.  With that said, we’ll break it down based on the type of loan you might be looking for.

2023 Orange County Conforming Loan Limits

According to new data released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency the nationwide loan limit is set at $726,200.  Meanwhile, some states have what are considered to be “high cost” counties.  Orange County, California happens to be one of the nation’s high cost counties.  In high cost counties the maximum conforming or conventional loan limit can be anywhere ranging from the standard national loan limit to something that is 1.5 times the normal limit (or somewhere in between).  If you’re a California resident, you surely know that housing is expensive in 2023.  Beyond that, Orange County, CA is one of the MOST expensive.  In fact, there are not many counties in the entire country that boast higher median home values.  Hence, the high balance conforming loan limit in Orange County is set at the full potential of $1,089,300 which is 1.5 times the standard loan limit for 2023.

Contact LifeSource Mortgage Today or Call   (949) 492-2252 x704

What Do Higher 2023 Orange County Conventional Loan Limits Mean for Home Buyers?

Generally speaking, a conforming or conventional loan is easier to get than a jumbo loan.  In fact, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae each have software that analyzes all of a borrower’s loan characteristics and actually makes an under writing decision in many cases.  Here are some of the things that the automated underwriting software analizes – credit, home value based on the address input, income, monthly obligations per the credit report, and more.  If the automated underwriting issues an approval, it simply needs to be validated for the human underwriter by providing the proper paper trail the underwriting feedback asks for.  Here are some of the basic perks in terms of conventional loans vs jumbo loans:

  • automated approvals can mean PIW’s.  PIW is an acronym for Property Inspection Waiver.  In other words, you MAY not need an appraisal for a conventional loan or conforming loan.
  • Interest rates are lower on conforming loans than jumbo loans.  This make your loan more affordable.
  • Along with the fact that conforming loans have lower interest rates, they also allow higher debt to income ratios (up to 50% vs the somewhat standard cap of 42/43% for jumbo loan DTI).  These two points coupled together really helps your likelihood of approval.
  • Sometimes, the underwriting software will approve a self employed person with the need for ONLY one year most recent tax returns (Jumbo loans require two year’s tax returns).
  • Conforming or conventional loans will also require less money in savings vs a jumbo loan.

Contact LifeSource Mortgage Today or Call   (949) 492-2252 x704

FUN FACT – According to the US Census Bureau, there are 3,143 counties in the nation.  There are 58 counties in California.  Of the aforementioned 3143 counties, there are about 101 counties that, like Orange County, boast the maximum conforming loan amount of $1,089,300.  Beyond that, within California, there are only a total of 9 counties in CA that have loan limits set at the max like Orange County.

2023 FHA Loan Limits in Orange County, California

When it comes to mortgages, FHFA has different rules than FHA / HUD (Federal Housing Administration). The former is required by law to set a single family floor and ceiling loan limit range that’s based on 80% – 150 percent of median home prices.

At this point in time the floor FHA loan amount is set at $420,680.  On the other side of the spectrum, the 2023 FHA loan limit in Orange County, California is set at $1,089,300.

Alot of the conforming benefits as compared to jumbo are shared with FHA.  However, FHA loans allow higher DTI’s that are set at about 55%.

VA Loan Limits in Orange County, CA

Technically, the VA lifted loan limits in 2020.  However, most lenders will cap their maximum allowable VA loan limit at the same amount any given county does for conforming or conventional loans.

What’s the benefit of having a VA loan.  The biggest benefits include that ability to not have a down payment like other loans, rates can be better than conforming, no PMI or MIP, AND there is no set cap for the DTI.  The VA also looks at residual income.  So, if all of the loan characteristics are good, the automated underwriting has been know to approve loans with DTI’s into the 70’s plus percent range.

Contact LifeSource Mortgage Today or Call   (949) 492-2252 x704 email us at [email protected]

What About Reverse Mortgage Loan Limits for 2023?

The loan limits work much differently for reverse loans.  Visit HECM Reverse Mortgage Loan Limits.

2023 Loan Limits in the rest of California’s Counties:

Note, at the moment, the 2023 FHA loan limits in California are still pending.  However, the chart below has updated / current conforming / conventional loan limits completed.

LifeSource Mortgage will be updating this page every year beginning in 2023.  However, we’ve left our original post made back in 2017 down below.  It’s interesting to see how much these loan limits has changed in Orange County and California alike.

Original Post:

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced they will be raising their loan limits for 2018. Typically, loan limits are raised when median home prices are increasing, which was obviously the case in 2017. The limit is increasing from $424,100 to $453,100 for a one-unit property in many areas of the country. In high cost areas, such as Los Angeles and Orange Counties the high balance loan limits are being raised to $679,650. This is welcome news as conforming loans often have better rates, smaller down payment requirements and more lenient guidelines as compared to Jumbo or Non-Conforming loans.

Other Loan limit posts by Lifesource Mortgage:

2020 loan limits

2021 Loan Limits

Let us help you navigate the market!

Contact LifeSource Mortgage Today or Call   (949) 492-2252 x704


Tags

fha loan limits orange county, orange county conforming loan limits, orange county conventional loan limits, orange county high balance loan limits, orange county loan limits, va loan limits orange county


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