Conventional loan in Louisiana: what it costs on the median home, and when PMI ends

A conventional loan in Louisiana is priced by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s national rules, then shaped by local facts: a $200,000 median, property tax near 0.55%, attorney closings, and a baseline conforming limit of $832,750. Here are the numbers and the rules, in that order.

How much house stays conforming in Louisiana

Two numbers decide the question in Louisiana: the 2026 conforming limit of $832,750 and the price you pay. Keep the loan at or under the limit — by price, by down payment, or with a conforming first plus a second lien — and you get Fannie/Freddie pricing and flexibility (3% down programs, automated underwriting, appraisal waivers). At the state median of $200,000, every scenario below is conforming. Every Louisiana county is in the table below; see conforming loan limits and jumbo loans.

Conforming limits for all 64 Louisiana counties

For 2026 the FHFA county list shows a single tier in Louisiana: all 64 counties at the $832,750 baseline for one unit, $1,066,250 for two units, $1,288,800 for three and $1,601,750 for four. Above those figures a loan is jumbo, whatever the county.

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.

Down payment and monthly payment, four ways

Worked at an illustrative 6.5% over 30 years on the $200,000 median. PMI uses order-of-magnitude annual rates by down payment; tax uses Louisiana’s approximate 0.55% effective rate. Your county, score and insurer will move every column.

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

When PMI ends in Louisiana

Mortgage insurance on a conventional loan is temporary. With only the scheduled payments at 6.5%, the Louisiana buyer who put 5% down reaches the 80% request point after about 10 years and 4 months and the 78% automatic point after about 11 years and 3 months; with 10% down the request point comes after about 7 years and 11 months. Paying an extra $120 a month toward principal, or asking for cancellation on a new appraisal after two years of appreciation, shortens the clock. The full rules are on how to remove PMI.

Recording taxes, transfer taxes and closing practice

Louisiana closings follow civil-law practice: the act of sale and the mortgage are authentic acts passed before a notary public and two witnesses, and the closing is conducted by a notary who is almost always an attorney or an attorney-owned title company. Title examination is an attorney function, and the lender’s title policy is issued by a title agency backed by that examination. Funding is wet and buyer-side costs are ordinary, but the notarial structure is unique in the country and the parish recorder will reject a mortgage that is not properly executed.

Louisiana imposes no state mortgage tax, intangible tax or documentary stamp on the note, and no state transfer tax on the act of sale; parish clerks of court charge recording fees by page. Orleans Parish is the exception: New Orleans levies a flat documentary transaction tax on each document recorded, including the mortgage, which adds a few hundred dollars to a city closing. Outside Orleans, recording a Louisiana mortgage costs only the clerk’s fees. Louisiana has no state real estate transfer tax; New Orleans levies a flat documentary transaction fee per instrument, and parishes charge recording fees.

Louisiana closings are conducted by attorneys or notaries; buyer costs of about 2% to 3% include title insurance and lender fees, and homeowners and flood insurance premiums are a large prepaid item in much of the state.

Three Louisiana rules to read before signing

Prepayment. Louisiana has no general statute forbidding prepayment penalties on first-lien residential mortgages, so the note controls within federal limits. On a conforming loan the question is moot — the agencies do not accept penalties — but check a portfolio or jumbo note.

Spouses and title. Louisiana is a community property state under the Civil Code, and property acquired during the marriage is presumed community.

Homestead. Louisiana’s homestead exemption against general creditors is $35,000 of equity, bounded by five acres in a municipality or 200 acres outside, and becomes unlimited when the debt stems from a catastrophic or terminal illness (Louisiana Revised Statutes 20:1).

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

Frequently asked questions

What is the conforming loan limit in Louisiana for 2026?

$832,750 for a single-family home, identical across Louisiana’s 64 counties because FHFA found no high-cost area in the state for 2026. A loan above it is jumbo; a conforming first plus a second lien is the usual way to stay under.

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

Federal law, not Louisiana 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 Louisiana 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 Louisiana add anything to a conventional loan’s closing costs?

Louisiana imposes no state mortgage tax, intangible tax or documentary stamp on the note, and no state transfer tax on the act of sale; parish clerks of court charge recording fees by page. Louisiana has no state real estate transfer tax; New Orleans levies a flat documentary transaction fee per instrument, and parishes charge recording fees. Louisiana closings are conducted by attorneys or notaries; buyer costs of about 2% to 3% include title insurance and lender fees, and homeowners and flood insurance premiums are a large prepaid item in much of the state.

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 Louisiana: programs and assistance. Hub: Conventional loan.