What actually changed for 2026
The baseline conforming loan limit for a one-unit home rose to $832,750 for 2026, up from the year before, following the required annual adjustment for home price appreciation. That is the number Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac use across most of the country, including all of Texas, since no Texas county is designated high-cost.
The FHA floor, the minimum FHA limit anywhere in the country, rose to $541,287. But Central Texas does not use the floor. The Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro, which covers Travis, Hays, Williamson, Bastrop, and Caldwell counties, is priced higher than that based on local home values.
What this actually means for Kyle, Buda, San Marcos, and the rest of the metro
For 2026, the FHA loan limit across the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro, which includes Kyle, Buda, San Marcos, Dripping Springs, and Driftwood along with Austin itself, is $571,550 for a single-family home. That is one number for the whole metro area, not a separate figure for each city, since FHA sets limits by metro, not by individual city.
The conventional conforming limit, $832,750, applies the same way across the whole metro. A loan above that amount is priced as a jumbo loan, with its own guidelines and typically its own rate structure, which is the real reason this number matters even if you never touch FHA.
Why this matters even if your loan is nowhere near the limit
If you are financing a home in Dripping Springs or Driftwood, where price points run well into jumbo territory, knowing exactly where the conforming line sits tells you whether you are shopping conventional pricing or jumbo pricing, and those are genuinely different conversations with different lenders on the panel.
If you are closer to the FHA range, the $571,550 metro limit is often higher than people assume, which can open up FHA as an option on a home they had written off as too expensive for it.
These figures move every year, so confirm the current number with me before you count on it for a specific purchase price, especially if you are buying near either threshold.
This is not a commitment to lend. All loans are subject to credit approval, income and property verification. Rates, terms, and programs are subject to change without notice. Nook Lending is powered by MPA Home Loans. Jennifer Ferrara, Loan Officer, NMLS #2781982. MPA Home Loans NMLS #2778343. Equal Housing Opportunity.
