Orange County, California FHA and Conforming Loan Limits 2025

The conforming and FHA loan limits for Orange County, California were increased for 2025 due to home price gains that occurred during the previous year.

  1. The 2025 FHA loan limit for Orange County, CA is $1,209,750.
  2. The conforming (non-FHA) loan limit is also set at $1,209,750.
  3. That’s an increase of about $60,000 compared to last year.
  4. These figures apply to single-family homes in particular.
  5. Multifamily homes like duplexes have higher limits, as shown below.
  6. These numbers will remain in effect for the full 2025 calendar year.
  7. High-income borrowers can use “jumbo loans” to exceed these caps.

You can learn more about Orange County loan limits below, including the figures for multifamily properties like duplex and triplex.

Orange County, California Loan Limits for 2025

At the end of 2024, officials from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced they were increasing the official FHA loan limits for 2025.

According to their announcement: “Loan limits for most of the country will increase in the coming year due to the continued appreciation of home prices over the past year.”

Similarly, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) increased the conforming loan limits for Orange County. Both agencies made these changes due to home price gains recorded in 2024.

  • One-unit property: $1,209,750
  • Two-unit property (duplex): $1,548,975
  • Three-unit property (triplex): $1,872,225
  • Four-unit property (quadplex): $2,326,875

Mortgage Terminology Breakdown

Home buyers often find loan limits to be a confusing subject, and the jargon has a lot to do with that. So let’s break down some of the mortgage industry terms you need to know.

FHA Loan: A mortgage loan that gets insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). This government backing makes it easier for borrowers with lower credit scores and smaller down payments to qualify for a mortgage. FHA loans have specific requirements and size limits.

Conventional Loan: A mortgage that is not backed by any government agency. These loans are offered by private lenders, such as banks and credit unions. They typically require higher credit scores and larger down payments than FHA loans (with some exceptions).

Conforming Loan: A type of conventional loan that meets the standards set by government-sponsored entities (GSEs) like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These standards include loan size limits, as mentioned above.

Jumbo Loan: A mortgage amount that exceeds the conforming loan limits set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Because these loans are larger, they carry more risk for lenders and typically require higher credit scores and larger down payments.

How These Limits Compare to Home Prices

Loan limits are based on home values. This means pricier real estate markets have higher FHA and conforming loan limits, while more affordable markets have lower ones.

Federal housing officials calculate and set these maximum mortgage sizes at the county level. They also keep them consistent across a metro area. This means that all cities of Orange County have the same FHA and conforming loan limits in 2025.

Interestingly, the current loan limits for the O.C. closely reflect the median home price.

Here’s what this relationship means from a home buyer’s perspective:

  • A person buying a home at the middle or lower end of the pricing spectrum for Orange County shouldn’t have to worry about FHA or conforming loan limits.
  • On the other hand, a person buying a relatively high-priced home in the county might exceed those limits and have to rely on jumbo mortgage financing.

We also have to remember that home prices can vary widely across a county, with some local markets being more or less affordable than others.

For example, the city of Santa Ana had a median price of $839,341 at the start of 2025, while the median for Irvine was much higher at $1,543,820.

In a more expensive real estate market, a higher percentage of home buyers will exceed the FHA and conforming loan limits when buying a house. And that means they’ll have to use a jumbo loan to finance their purchase.

Jumbo Loans Widely Available in Orange County

Many home buyers in Orange County, California have to borrow more than the official loan limits, due to the high-cost nature of this market. And that’s totally do-able.

Borrowers with sufficient income can qualify for a jumbo mortgage loan.

Due to their larger size and elevated risk level, jumbo mortgages usually require higher credit scores and larger down payments, compared to the smaller conforming loans.

In Orange County, any mortgage amount that exceeds $1,209,750 for 2025 would be considered a jumbo loan—and would likely have stricter criteria as a result.

6 Key Points to Take Away From This Guide

We’ve covered a lot of detailed and confusing information in this guide. Here are the most important points you should take away from it.

  1. The 2025 FHA loan limit for Orange County, California is $1,209,750.
  2. That’s for a single-family home; multifamily properties have higher limits.
  3. The 2025 conforming loan limit for the county is also set at $1,209,750.
  4. These caps were increased from last year due to rising home prices.
  5. These limits are very close to the median home price in Orange County.
  6. Home buyers with sufficient income can use a jumbo loan to borrow more. 

Sign Up for SoCal Housing Weekly

Want to keep up with the Southern California real estate market?

Sign up for SoCal Housing Weekly.

Created by the Home Buying Institute (and authored by veteran housing market analyst Brandon Cornett), this newsletter will keep you up to speed on key market trends.

SoCal Housing Weekly offers exclusive insights for the Southern California region as a whole, along with major cities and metros—including Orange County.

The 2025 FHA Loan Handbook