What Counts as a Jumbo Loan in Horry and Georgetown Counties?

A jumbo loan is simply a mortgage too big for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy. The line that decides it is the conforming loan limit, and it moves every year.

Here’s the part that matters when you’re looking at Horry County loan limits. There are actually two lines, not one — conventional has its limit and FHA has a much lower one. Plenty of houses here sit comfortably under the conventional limit and still blow past what FHA will insure. That gap catches buyers who assumed one number covered everything.

What is a jumbo loan?

It’s a loan above the conforming loan limit. That limit is the maximum size Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can purchase.

Most mortgages in this country get sold after closing. Fannie and Freddie buy loans that meet their standards, which is what makes conventional financing widely available and consistently priced. A loan larger than their limit can’t be sold to them, so it goes to a different investor with its own rules.

That’s the whole distinction. Jumbo isn’t a worse loan or a riskier one. It’s a loan that lives outside the agency system. The underwriting standards come from whoever’s buying it, not from Fannie or Freddie.

What is the conforming loan limit for 2026?

The baseline is $832,750 for a one-unit property.

FHFA — the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie and Freddie — announced that figure on November 25, 2025. It rose $26,250 from the 2025 limit. House prices increased 3.26 percent on average between the third quarters of 2024 and 2025. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act requires the limit to track house prices that way, which is why it changes annually.

There’s also a high-cost ceiling of $1,249,125 — 150 percent of the baseline — that applies in designated high-cost areas.

What are the Horry County loan limits for 2026?

The baseline applies unless FHFA specifically designates a county as high-cost based on local median home prices, and most counties aren’t designated.

I’d rather point you at the source than assert a county figure that could be wrong or go stale. FHFA publishes a county-by-county list of conforming limit values every year. HUD publishes an FHA mortgage limits lookup. Enter the county and get the current number. Those two lookups take about a minute each and they’re authoritative in a way a blog post isn’t.

What I can tell you with confidence is the timing. FHFA publishes conforming limits in late November. HUD publishes FHA limits in December, effective January 1. If you’re shopping near the top of your range in December, the limit you’re planning around may be about to change — usually upward.

How is FHA’s loan limit different?

It’s considerably lower, and this is the part that surprises Grand Strand buyers.

For 2026, FHA’s floor — the limit in areas where housing costs are relatively low — is $541,287, effective January 1, 2026. FHA’s ceiling in high-cost areas is $1,249,125, the same as the conventional high-cost ceiling. Both are set at 150 percent of the national conforming limit.

Look at the spread between those two figures. A house priced above FHA’s floor but below $832,750 is a house that conventional financing handles as a normal conforming loan and FHA can’t insure at all in a floor-limit county.

That’s a real scenario in this market, and it’s the reason I ask early which program a buyer is planning on. If you’re counting on FHA financing, the price ceiling you’re working with isn’t the conventional one — and nobody tells you that until you’ve fallen for a house.

What actually changes when you cross into jumbo?

The rulebook, not the loan’s legitimacy.

Because a jumbo isn’t going to Fannie or Freddie, standards come from the investor buying it. In practice that generally means more documentation, more reserves — money left over after closing — and closer scrutiny of income and assets. Appraisal requirements can be different too, and on a unique coastal property that matters more than it sounds.

None of that is a problem for a well-prepared borrower. It’s just a different preparation. The buyers who struggle with jumbo financing are usually the ones who started the process assuming it would work like a conforming loan and found out otherwise three weeks before closing.

One more wrinkle worth knowing: what the property is used for matters too. A second home or an investment property is evaluated differently than a primary residence at any loan size, and stacking a jumbo loan on top of a non-primary occupancy means two sets of tighter standards at once. If you’re buying a beach place at the upper end of this market, that combination is the thing to plan around from the start.

Why does this come up more on the coast?

Because the price range where these lines sit is well represented here.

Oceanfront single-family inventory, the higher end around Pawleys Island and the DeBordieu area, larger homes in the Grand Dunes and Carolina Forest, and some of the newer North Myrtle Beach construction all live in territory where the conventional limit becomes a live question. Meanwhile a much broader slice of the market sits above FHA’s floor.

So the two lines catch two different groups of buyers. The FHA line catches first-time and move-up buyers who assumed their program would stretch further. The conforming line catches move-up and second-home buyers at the upper end who assumed jumbo was somebody else’s problem.

Condos add their own layer. A unit’s price may sit well inside every limit while the building itself creates the real financing question — project approval, association finances, the share of units that are rentals. On a condo, clearing the loan limit is necessary but nowhere near sufficient.

Both situations are entirely manageable when you know about them in advance. Both are miserable when you find out mid-contract.

What should you do first?

Look up the current limit for the specific county before you shop the top of your range.

Not last year’s number, and not a number from an article — including this one, once we’re into next year. FHFA’s county list and HUD’s FHA limits lookup both give you the current figure, and both are free.

Then decide which side of the line you want to be on. Sometimes the right answer is to stay just under the conforming limit and keep the simpler loan. Sometimes the house is worth the jumbo. That’s your call — but it should be a choice, not an accident.

Find out which line applies to you

If you’re buying anywhere from Little River to Pawleys Island and your price range is anywhere near these limits, let’s check the current county figures and price both paths before you start touring. Knowing your ceiling up front is worth more than any advice I can give you after you’re under contract. Get pre-qualified and find your real price ceiling.

Frequently asked questions

What is the conforming loan limit for 2026?

The 2026 baseline conforming loan limit value for a one-unit property is $832,750, announced by FHFA on November 25, 2025. That’s an increase of $26,250 over 2025, reflecting a 3.26 percent average rise in house prices between the third quarters of 2024 and 2025. The high-cost area ceiling is $1,249,125, or 150 percent of the baseline.

What makes a mortgage a jumbo loan?

A jumbo loan is one that exceeds the conforming loan limit, meaning Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can’t purchase it. The loan is sold to a different investor instead, so its underwriting standards are set by that investor rather than by the agencies. Jumbo loans typically involve more documentation and larger reserve requirements.

What is the FHA loan limit for 2026?

FHA’s 2026 floor for a one-unit property is $541,287, effective January 1, 2026, and its ceiling in high-cost areas is $1,249,125 — set at 150 percent of the national conforming loan limit. The floor applies in areas where 115 percent of the median home price falls below it.

Can a house be too expensive for FHA but not need a jumbo loan?

Yes, and it’s common. FHA’s floor limit sits well below the conventional conforming limit, so a home priced between the two is one FHA can’t insure in a floor-limit county while conventional financing still treats it as a standard conforming loan. Confirm which program you’re using before you set your price range.

When do loan limits change?

Every year. FHFA announces conforming loan limit values in late November, and HUD publishes FHA loan limits in December, effective January 1. If you’re shopping near a limit in the fall, the figure you’re planning around is likely to change at the start of the new year.

About Travis Buis

Travis Buis is a loan officer with Elite Home Lending serving Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand, working with buyers and homeowners across Horry and Georgetown counties. He handles conventional, FHA, VA, and jumbo financing in a market where a lot of inventory sits right around the limits that separate them, and where knowing your ceiling before you tour saves everyone a hard conversation later. His approach is to look up the current number rather than quote last year’s. Get in touch.

Travis Buis, NMLS #1711446. Elite Home Lending, LLC — NMLS #2788023. Equal Housing Opportunity.

This article is for educational purposes only and is not a commitment to lend or an offer of credit. Program terms, rates, and eligibility standards are set by lenders, investors, and agencies and are subject to change without notice. Loan approval is subject to underwriting, credit approval, and property eligibility. Calculator results are estimates only. Nothing here is tax or legal advice — consult your CPA or attorney for your situation.