HUD multifamily statutory loan limits for 2026

How the limit works

The statutory limit is one of the tests HUD uses to size a loan (Criterion 4 on form HUD-92264-A). The loan is the lowest of all the tests, so the statutory limit only matters when it comes out below the value, cost and coverage tests.

The calculation, unit type by unit type:

units of that type x per-unit base limit (by bedrooms, elevator or not) x high cost percentage

Add the unit types together, and adjust for costs not attributable to dwelling space where they apply. For a refinance of a property that was already FHA-insured, the MAP Guide says the statutory amount cannot come out lower than it was for the previous insured loan, unless improvements were demolished or reduced.

An elevator building uses the elevator column; a walk-up uses non-elevator.

CY2026 base limits

Published May 6, 2026 (91 FR 24597, FR Doc. 2026-08795), effective January 1, 2026, for applications submitted or amended on or after that date and not yet initially endorsed. The index was a 2.3% CPI-U increase.

Section 207, 207 pursuant to 223(f), and 220

Bedrooms	Non-elevator	Elevator
0	$68,733	$80,170
1	$76,138	$88,832
2	$90,947	$108,925
3	$112,100	$136,424
4+	$126,909	$154,259

Section 221(d)(4)

Bedrooms	Non-elevator	Elevator
0	$68,401	$73,889
1	$77,649	$84,706
2	$93,859	$103,004
3	$117,808	$133,252
4+	$133,121	$146,274

Sections 213, 231 and 234

Section 207 manufactured home parks

$31,553 per space.

The high cost percentage

The 2008 appropriations act lets HUD raise the limits by up to 170% (a 270% multiplier) where costs require it, and by up to 215% (a 315% multiplier) in High Cost Areas on a project-by-project basis. Mortgagee Letter 2026-05 sets the 2026 list:

Area	2026 multiplier
Every other listed base city (the West, Southwest, Southeast, Midwest and Northeast regional lists)	270%
Listed High Cost Areas, by project-specific waiver	up to 315%
Special Limit Areas: Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands	405%

Which city applies to your property: if HUD’s table names only one area in your state, that area’s percentage applies statewide. If it names several, use the listed area closest to the property. For 2026 every listed area outside the Special Limit Areas carries 270%, so the location question mostly matters for whether a High Cost Area waiver to 315% is available.

The 2026 percentages apply to firm applications and amendments not yet initially endorsed, effective January 1, 2026.

Worked example

Hypothetical. A 200-unit elevator building financed under 221(d)(4) in a standard 270% area: 40 studios, 100 one-bedrooms, 60 two-bedrooms.

At a 315% High Cost Area waiver the same mix supports $55,460,160; at the 405% Special Limit Area multiplier, $71,305,920. If the same building were an existing property refinanced under 223(f), it would use the Section 207 elevator column: $50,288,850 at 270%.

Whether that number limits the loan depends on the other tests. If 87% of cost or the 1.15x coverage test produces less, the statutory limit is not the binding constraint. The statutory limit calculator runs any unit mix.

The ROAD to Housing Act: new base amounts, not yet in use

Enacted July 11, 2026. HUD implementation is pending. Do not size a loan with these figures yet.

Section 211 of Public Law 119-101 replaced the base dollar amounts in the National Housing Act that HUD has indexed since 2004. Each new amount is 4.4 times the old statutory base, which works out to roughly 2.4 times the CY2026 indexed figures above. The Act also switched the annual index from CPI-U to the Census Bureau’s price deflator for multifamily units under construction (March to March), “commencing on July 1, 2025,” and requires HUD to publish adjustments in the Federal Register.

Other points from section 211:

• The separate per-space dollar limit for manufactured home parks was struck from Section 207(c)(3)(A). HUD has not said how it will treat parks under the new text.
• HUD keeps its authority over high cost percentages and High Cost Areas.
• FHA must study the effect of the higher limits and report to Congress within three years.

As of October 30, 2026, we found no Federal Register notice or Mortgagee Letter implementing the new amounts. Until HUD publishes one, lenders size with the CY2026 table, and the statutory test will keep binding on some high-cost deals that the new law was meant to free up.

Two other indexed thresholds

Mortgagee Letter 2026-05 also indexes two MAP Guide thresholds that are often confused with statutory limits:

• Substantial rehabilitation: $20,406 per unit for 2026 (from $19,948 in 2025). The threshold for a property is $20,406 x the area’s high cost percentage x the number of units. At 270% that is $55,096.20 per unit, or $6,611,544 for a 120-unit property. The 315% High Cost Area multiplier may not be used here. Work above the line is substantial rehabilitation (221(d)(4)), not 223(f).
• Large loans: $130 million, unchanged from 2025 because the 2.3% index did not reach the next $5 million step. Loans at or above it are underwritten to tighter ratios; see large loans.