Quick Read
- Rocket Mortgage will treat loans up to $822,550 as conforming, exceeding the 2025 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac baseline limit of $806,500 by $19,050, aiming to attract high-end borrowers with better pricing.
- In Alaska and Hawaii, Rocket sets its unofficial conforming limit at $1,238,325, above the FHFA’s $1,209,750 limit, anticipating higher 2026 conforming loan limits due in November.
- This move surpasses competitors like UWM, which announced an $819,000 unofficial limit in September, giving Rocket a competitive edge.
An AI tool created this summary, which was based on the text of the article and checked by an editor.
The 2.4 percent increase ahead of an official announcement in November surpasses more cautious 1.5 percent increases adopted last month by UWM, Pennymac, CrossCountry and Rate.
Rocket Mortgage may have arrived late to the party, but it’s bringing a bigger housewarming gift, so to speak, announcing this week that it will treat mortgages with balances of up to $825,550 as if they were eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
That’s $19,050 above Fannie and Freddie’s 2025 baseline conforming loan limit[1] of $806,500, and reflects Rocket Mortgage’s bullish estimate of what the limit will be next year.
In Alaska and Hawaii, where Fannie and Freddie’s limit is $1,209,750, Rocket will treat mortgages of up to $1,238,325 as if they were conforming, in anticipation of higher 2026 limits that are expected to be announced in November.
That means some high-end borrowers who would otherwise have been looking at taking out a jumbo mortgage will qualify for a conforming mortgage with less restrictive terms and more competitive pricing.
Fannie and Freddie’s regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), will release the official 2026 conforming loan limits in November, based on the latest home price data.
It’s become standard practice for lenders to make an educated guess at what the new conforming loan limits will be in the year ahead, and wait until January to sell mortgages that exceed the current limit to Fannie and Freddie.
The nation’s largest lender, United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), announced last month[2] that it would price loans of up to $819,000 as if they were conforming — $12,500 above Fannie and Freddie’s current baseline.
Pennymac[3], CrossCountry Mortgage[4] and Rate[5] (formerly Guaranteed Rate) followed UWM’s lead with matching 1.5 percent increases.
Rocket’s more generous 2.4 percent increase in its unofficial conforming limit gives it a competitive edge among a small sliver of borrowers, and reflects confidence that home prices are still posting strong gains.
Bill Banfield
“We’ve taken the time needed to analyze current market data and rising home prices to determine the most accurate loan limits for today’s environment,” Rocket Companies Chief Business Officer Bill Banfield said in a statement. “This strategic decision reflects our commitment to providing accessible homeownership opportunities when families need them most.”
The higher limits apply to both borrowers who go directly to Rocket Mortgage and those who work with mortgage brokers who are partnered with Rocket Pro.
Congress has tied the conforming loan limit to the average U.S. home price, as measured by the FHFA House Price Index[6].
In a Sept. 19 forecast[7], economists at the Mortgage Bankers Association estimated that national home price appreciation slowed to an annual rate of 1.8 percent during the third quarter of this year, and that home price appreciation will turn slightly negative (-0.2 percent) in the second half of 2026.
Baseline conforming loan limit, 2000-2025
Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency
When mortgage rates hit historic lows during the pandemic, soaring home prices pushed the conforming loan limit up by a record $98,950 in 2022, an 18 percent increase from the year before.
This year’s 5.21 percent increase in the conforming loan limit was the smallest since 2017, when it inched up 1.7 percent. Before that, the conforming loan limit was unchanged for a decade, as home prices recovered from the Great Recession of 2007-2009.
Get Inman’s Mortgage Brief Newsletter delivered right to your inbox. A weekly roundup of all the biggest news in the world of mortgages and closings delivered every Wednesday. Click here to subscribe.[8][9]
References
- ^ conforming loan limit (www.inman.com)
- ^ announced last month (www.inman.com)
- ^ Pennymac (tpo.pennymac.com)
- ^ CrossCountry Mortgage (crosscountrymortgage.com)
- ^ Rate (www.globenewswire.com)
- ^ FHFA House Price Index (www.fhfa.gov)
- ^ Sept. 19 forecast (www.mba.org)
- ^ Mortgage Brief Newsletter (www.inman.com)
- ^ Click here to subscribe. (www.inman.com)
- ^ Email Matt Carter (www.inman.com)