A conforming loan is a mortgage at or under the loan limit the Federal Housing Finance Agency sets each year, so Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac can buy it. A jumbo loan is above that limit and follows a private investor's rules instead. For 2026, the one-unit conforming limit in Tarrant County, and in every Texas county, is $832,750, the national baseline. Higher limits apply to two- to four-unit homes. The limit is about the loan amount, not the price, so your down payment decides which side of the line you're on.
FHFA's 2026 county table lists the same limits for all 254 Texas counties, including Tarrant, Dallas, Denton, Johnson and Parker (FHFA 2026 county list):
These apply to loans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac acquire in calendar year 2026. FHFA usually announces the next year's limits in late November. The 2026 values were announced November 25, 2025 (FHFA news release). Until FHFA announces the 2027 numbers, nobody can quote them, and anyone who does is guessing.
The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 requires FHFA to adjust the baseline limit each year to reflect the change in average U.S. home prices, using its House Price Index. For 2026, FHFA measured a 3.26 percent rise between the third quarters of 2024 and 2025, and raised the baseline by the same percentage.
In areas where 115 percent of the local median home value is above the baseline, a higher high-cost limit applies, capped at 150 percent of the baseline. For 2026 that ceiling is $1,249,125 for one unit. Loans between the baseline and a local high-cost limit are often called high-balance or super-conforming loans. No Texas county has a high-cost limit in 2026, so in Fort Worth the baseline is the line.
Two buyers at the same price can land on different sides of the line because their down payments differ. A larger down payment can keep a higher-priced home conforming. A small one can push the loan over. On a refinance, rolling closing costs into the loan can do the same.
A buyer just over the line can sometimes bring a bit more cash to stay conforming. Another option is a first mortgage at or under the limit plus a second lien for part of the rest. The second has its own rate, terms and qualifying rules, both payments count in your debt-to-income ratio, and the combined loan-to-value has to fit both lenders' limits. Whether that beats a single jumbo depends on the actual quotes for both structures.
People use the two words interchangeably, but they mean different things. Conventional means the loan isn't insured or guaranteed by a government agency like FHA, VA or USDA. Conforming means it meets Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac standards, including the loan limit. A jumbo loan is conventional but not conforming. An FHA loan is neither, even when its amount is under the conforming limit. That's why "Is this a conforming loan?" is really two questions: is the amount under the limit, and does the file fit the agency guide?
The limit that matters is the one in effect when Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac acquires the loan, which is after closing. Lenders usually start working with the new year's limits once FHFA announces them, for loans that will be delivered after January 1. If you're writing a contract in the fall with a closing in January, ask which table your loan is being underwritten to. Limits have usually risen with home prices, and FHFA can hold them flat when its price index falls, so don't assume a bigger number until it's published.
A conforming loan follows Fannie Mae's Selling Guide or Freddie Mac's Guide, usually through Desktop Underwriter or Loan Product Advisor. The findings list what has to be documented. Down payment minimums, mortgage insurance, reserves and credit standards come from those guides and the findings. Because so many loans are bought under the same rules, conforming requirements are fairly consistent from lender to lender. See conventional loans for the details.
Jumbo guidelines are the investor's guidelines. A bank keeping the loan, or a private investor buying it, writes its own rules for credit, income, assets, property and appraisal. There's no single national jumbo down payment, score or reserve number to print, because each investor sets its own. Things that often look different on a jumbo file:
Jumbo loans still have to meet the federal ability-to-repay rule. Many are written as qualified mortgages, and some are non-QM. Requirements vary by investor and loan structure. (CFPB ability-to-repay rule).
Jumbo is a size label. It doesn't tell you whether a jumbo quote will be above or below a conforming quote. Conforming pricing includes Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan-level price adjustments for credit score, loan-to-value and other features. Jumbo pricing has adjustments set by the investor. The only useful comparison for a buyer near the line is a conforming quote and a jumbo quote for the same property, same points and same day, with the down payment each needs.
FHA publishes its own county limits each year. For 2026, the FHA one-unit floor in low-cost areas is $541,287, for case numbers assigned on or after January 1, 2026 (HUD ML 2025-23). Look up Tarrant County's FHA limit on HUD's lookup tool (HUD FHA Mortgage Limits) rather than relying on a number someone remembers. A loan above that county limit can't be an FHA loan.
VA works differently. A veteran with full entitlement has no VA loan limit, as long as they can afford the loan and the appraisal supports the price (VA loan limits). With remaining entitlement after a prior VA loan, the county conforming limit enters VA's guaranty calculation. See VA entitlement.
USDA's guaranteed program doesn't use a published loan limit the same way. Household income limits and your ability to repay control the size.
If you're buying a duplex, triplex or fourplex to live in one unit, the higher two- to four-unit limits apply. That can keep a larger loan conforming. Rental income from the other units may help you qualify under the program's rules, and owner-occupancy rules still apply.
This example is made up. Two buyers each want a $900,000 home in west Fort Worth. Priya borrows 90 percent of the price, so her loan is $810,000, under the 2026 one-unit limit of $832,750, and it's a conforming loan. Ben borrows 95 percent of the price, so his loan is $855,000, over the limit, and it's a jumbo unless he uses more of his own funds to lower the loan amount to $832,750, or uses a second lien for part of it. Same house, same price, different loans, decided entirely by the loan amount.
Shopping near $832,750? I'll run both sides of the line for your actual numbers: what it takes to stay conforming, what a jumbo investor would require, and how a first-and-second structure compares. Schedule a call, or when you're ready, start an application.
Links checked Oct 21, 2026.
About the author: McKade Lively, NMLS 2704474, American Pacific Mortgage Corporation dba True North Home Loans, NMLS 1850.
Equal Housing Opportunity.
Last reviewed: Oct 2026