Home prices in Orange County, California have increased at a healthy amount over the last year or so. Because of this, federal housing officials recently announced that the conforming mortgage loan limit for Orange County, a high-cost area, will be increased for 2023.
For all cities within Orange County; Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Cypress, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Irvine, etc.) the 2023 conforming loan limit will rise to $1,089,300. However, this is only for a single-family home purchase. The loan limits for multi-family properties such as duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes will also increase in 2023.
Orange County Loan Limit Will Be Increased for 2023
A “conforming” loan is one that matches the loan size requirements used by the two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The GSE’s buy and explicitly guarantee residential loans from mortgage lenders.
When a home loan is above the GSE limits, it’s referred to as a jumbo loan. Borrowers who need to get a jumbo loan usually have to satisfy stricter requirements, because of the higher loan amounts being borrowed.
In 2023, the limit that sets apart conforming and jumbo loans in Orange County is going to be raised due to the climb in home values. In 2023, the conforming loan limit for a single-family home in the Orange County metro area will increase to $1,089,300. This represents an increase of roughly $117,000 from the 2022 cap of $972,800.
These limits are usually consistent across metro areas. So in the case of Orange County, this means that Los Angeles and Orange counties all have the same loan maximum limits. San Diego has always been slightly lower than the L.A. metro area while inland counties of Riverside and San Bernardino continue to be set at the baseline limit.
Apart from Orange County, the 2023 loan limit for most other California counties will adjust up to $726,200.
Just so you know: Borrowers with sufficient income and employment verification can still qualify to borrow more than the conforming loan limit in their desired county. That would mean they’ll fit into a “jumbo” mortgage scenario.