Conventional loans in Illinois: conforming limit, real monthly costs, PMI timeline

On Illinois’s rough $270,000 median, a conventional loan with 5% down means $13,500 at closing and about $2,249 a month with taxes and mortgage insurance; with 20% down, $54,000 and about $1,833. Everything below is worked on those numbers and on the state rules that change them.

Conforming or jumbo in Illinois?

In Illinois, a one-unit conventional loan above $832,750 is jumbo in 2026. The median price of about $270,000 means the median buyer is well inside the limit even with 3% down (loan $261,900), so conforming rules apply to most purchases. Two-, three- and four-unit homes have higher limits. Every Illinois county is in the table below; see conforming loan limits and jumbo loans.

2026 conforming loan limits by county in Illinois

No county in Illinois qualifies as an FHFA high-cost area for 2026, so the table below is flat: $832,750 for one unit in all 102 counties, rising to $1,601,750 for a four-unit property. Limits change every January; these are the figures for mortgages acquired in calendar year 2026.

Source: FHFA, Conforming Loan Limit Values for 2026 (county list, mortgages acquired in calendar year 2026). Limits are for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans; FHA and VA use their own county figures.

Monthly cost on a $270,000 Illinois home

The table assumes Illinois’s $270,000 median, a 6.5% rate chosen for illustration, typical PMI pricing by down payment (your credit score moves it), and the state’s 2.08% effective property tax. Add insurance and HOA dues to get a full payment.

For other loan amounts and rates, the payment tables show principal and interest, total interest and the PMI break points.

The PMI timeline on a Illinois purchase

Under the Homeowners Protection Act, the 80% request point and the 78% automatic point are measured against the original value. The scheduled payments on the $256,500 5% down loan reach 80% after about 10 years and 4 months, on the $243,000 10% down loan after about 7 years and 11 months. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac servicers also cancel on current value — typically 75% LTV after two years or 80% after five — which in a rising Illinois market can come sooner.

Recording taxes, transfer taxes and closing practice

Illinois closings split by geography: in Chicago and the collar counties both buyer and seller customarily retain attorneys, contracts carry an attorney-review contingency, and the closing takes place at a title company that acts as settlement and escrow agent, while downstate title companies often close without lawyers. No statute requires an attorney, but lender counsel and the Chicago Title/Fidelity-style closing desks are the norm in Cook County. Funding is wet, with same-day recording at the county recorder.

Illinois has no mortgage recording tax and no intangible tax on the note. The Real Estate Transfer Tax ($0.50 per $500 state, $0.25 per $500 county, plus the City of Chicago’s $3.75 per $500 buyer share and $1.50 per $500 seller share) attaches to the deed rather than the loan. Recording a mortgage costs the county’s per-document fee plus the statewide Rental Housing Support Program surcharge. Illinois charges a state transfer tax of $0.50 per $500 (0.1%) and counties $0.25 per $500, generally paid by the seller; Chicago adds $5.25 per $500, of which the buyer customarily pays $3.75 per $500 (0.75%), and many suburbs levy their own.

Outside Chicago, buyer closing costs run about 2% to 3%; in Chicago the buyer’s transfer tax share and attorney fees push costs higher. Illinois uses attorneys at closing and property taxes are paid in arrears, producing large tax prorations.

Prepayment, spouses and homestead in Illinois

Prepayment. The Illinois Interest Act (815 ILCS 205/4(2)(a)) makes it unlawful to provide for or collect a prepayment penalty on a residential real estate loan whose interest rate exceeds 8% per year, which in practice bans penalties on most Illinois loans when rates are above that level. On a conforming loan the question is moot — the agencies do not accept penalties — but check a portfolio or jumbo note.

Spouses and title. Illinois is a separate-property state with no dower, but the Conveyances Act (765 ILCS 5/27) provides that a mortgage does not waive the homestead unless the spouse signs a release of homestead, so a non-titled spouse signs the mortgage on the marital home to waive that right.

Homestead. The Illinois homestead exemption (735 ILCS 5/12-901) protects $15,000 of equity per owner — $30,000 for a couple — a figure that has not kept pace with home prices; it does not prevent foreclosure of a mortgage the owner signed, tax sales or association liens.

The complete state layer — licensing, predatory-lending limits, disclosures, foreclosure — is on mortgage laws in Illinois.

Frequently asked questions

What is the conforming loan limit in Illinois for 2026?

The FHFA baseline of $832,750 applies statewide — none of Illinois’s 102 counties qualifies as high-cost in 2026. With 20% down you can buy up to about $1,040,938 and stay conforming; two- to four-unit homes have higher limits ($1,066,250, $1,288,800, $1,601,750).

When can I cancel PMI on a conventional loan in Illinois?

Federal law, not Illinois law, sets the dates: request at 80% of original value, automatic at 78%, and in any case at the loan’s midpoint. On the median Illinois price with 5% down at an illustrative 6.5%, that is roughly 10 years and 4 months and 11 years and 3 months respectively if you only make the scheduled payment.

Does Illinois add anything to a conventional loan’s closing costs?

Illinois has no mortgage recording tax and no intangible tax on the note. Illinois charges a state transfer tax of $0.50 per $500 (0.1%) and counties $0.25 per $500, generally paid by the seller; Chicago adds $5.25 per $500, of which the buyer customarily pays $3.75 per $500 (0.75%), and many suburbs levy their own. Outside Chicago, buyer closing costs run about 2% to 3%; in Chicago the buyer’s transfer tax share and attorney fees push costs higher.

Related: Mortgage underwriting: what happens between pre-approval and clear to close, Mortgage recast: lowering the payment without refinancing, Financing a duplex, triplex or fourplex: down payment, rental income and the rules that change, Assumable mortgages: taking over a seller’s low rate, and what it really costs. First home in Illinois: programs and assistance. Hub: Conventional loan.