The latest update now includes Freddie Mac‘s special exception areas, such as Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This new limit represents a $39,375 increase from the previous year, marking the 10th consecutive year of growth.
“The actions taken by FHA to raise HECM loan limits offer more options for older homeowners in the U.S. to utilize their home equity as part of a comprehensive retirement strategy to meet their financial needs,” stated Steve Irwin, president of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA). “We commend FHA for recognizing the importance of this initiative.”
FHA has outlined the specifics in Mortgagee Letter 2025-22 and confirmed that this new policy will be included in the upcoming update of the Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1.
Proprietary (or jumbo) reverse mortgages, not backed by the government and privately insured, typically have higher maximum limits compared to HECMs, allowing borrowers to access larger loan amounts.
For instance, Finance of America‘s HomeSafe range of jumbo reverse mortgages provides eligible homeowners aged 55 and above in specific regions the opportunity to tap into their home equity with loans up to $4 million. Longbridge Financial and Fairway Home Mortgage‘s reverse mortgage divisions also offer access to loans up to $4 million.
These latest limits follow closely after the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) raised the 2026 conforming loan limit by 3.25% to $832,750, with higher limits set at $1,249,125 for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in high-cost areas.
In its statement, FHFA mentioned, “Based on the FHFA HPI data, house prices rose by an average of 3.26% between the third quarters of 2024 and 2025. As a result, the baseline CLL for 2026 will increase by the same percentage.”