Texas conventional mortgage: limits, down payment math and the state rules

A conventional loan in Texas is priced by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s national rules, then shaped by local facts: a $300,000 median, property tax near 1.68%, title company closings, and a baseline conforming limit of $832,750. Here are the numbers and the rules, in that order.

The Texas conforming limit and where jumbo starts

In Texas, a one-unit conventional loan above $832,750 is jumbo in 2026. The median price of about $300,000 means the median buyer is well inside the limit even with 3% down (loan $291,000), so conforming rules apply to most purchases. Two-, three- and four-unit homes have higher limits. Every Texas county is in the table below; see conforming loan limits and jumbo loans.

Texas loan limits, county by county (2026)

FHFA sets the limit county by county, but for 2026 every one of Texas’s 254 counties sits at the national baseline: $832,750 for a one-unit home, $1,066,250 for two units, $1,288,800 for three and $1,601,750 for four. The table is here so you can confirm your county rather than assume.

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

Each row is the same $300,000 Texas home at 6.5% for 30 years — only the down payment changes. PMI is an illustrative market rate for that down payment; property tax is the state’s rough 1.68% effective rate divided by twelve.

Below 20% down, the 3% and 5% programs (HomeReady, Home Possible, Conventional 97) have income or first-time conditions; see 3% down conventional loans.

When PMI ends in Texas

Three dates matter: the month the balance hits 80% of the original price (you ask), 78% (the servicer must act) and the loan’s midpoint (cancellation regardless of value, if current). On Texas’s median with 5% down at 6.5%, the schedule reaches 80% in about 10 years and 4 months; with 3% down, about 11 years and 1 months; with 10% down, about 7 years and 11 months. Over that time the 5% buyer pays roughly $22,072 in PMI at $178 a month.

What Texas adds at closing

Title companies conduct virtually every Texas closing, and the premium they charge is not negotiable because the Texas Department of Insurance promulgates statewide title insurance rates and forms. No attorney is required at the table, but Government Code § 83.001 reserves the drafting of deeds and deeds of trust to Texas-licensed attorneys, so title companies use lawyer-prepared documents. Funding is wet, with disbursement the day the deed of trust is accepted for recording.

Texas has neither a mortgage recording tax nor an intangible tax on the note, and since a 2015 constitutional amendment the state may not impose a real estate transfer tax either. Recording a deed of trust with the county clerk costs a per-page fee, usually well under a hundred dollars for a typical instrument. Texas has no real estate transfer tax and no mortgage tax; only recording fees apply.

Texas closings run through title companies with state-regulated title premiums; buyer closing costs of about 2% to 3% are modest, but the property tax escrow — Texas has one of the highest effective rates in the country — is large.

Three Texas rules to read before signing

Prepayment. The Texas Constitution forbids any prepayment penalty on a home equity loan (Article XVI, § 50(a)(6)(G)), and Finance Code § 302.102 bars prepayment penalties on loans secured by the homestead that carry an interest rate above 12 percent. The federal ability-to-repay rule caps penalties tightly and bans them on adjustable or higher-priced loans.

Spouses and title. Texas is a community property state under the Family Code, so a home bought during marriage is presumed community property no matter whose name is on the loan, and Family Code § 5.001 requires both spouses to join in any sale or encumbrance of the homestead, which is why the non-borrowing spouse signs the deed of trust.

Homestead. Article XVI, Section 50 of the Texas Constitution protects the homestead without any dollar limit, up to ten acres in a city or 100 acres (200 for a family) in the country, and only the liens the Constitution lists can be enforced against it: purchase money, property taxes, home improvement, owelty, home equity loans meeting the 50(a)(6) rules, reverse mortgages and refinances of those liens.

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

Frequently asked questions

What is the conforming loan limit in Texas for 2026?

For 2026, $832,750 (one unit) in all 254 Texas counties — the national baseline, with no county above it. The county table on this page lists the two-, three- and four-unit figures. Above the limit, the loan is jumbo and follows lender rules.

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

Under the federal Homeowners Protection Act you may request cancellation when the balance reaches 80% of the original value and the servicer must cancel automatically at 78%. On a $300,000 Texas home bought with 5% down at an illustrative 6.5%, scheduled payments reach 80% after about 10 years and 4 months and 78% after about 11 years and 3 months; extra principal or a new appraisal showing appreciation can move the date up.

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

Texas has neither a mortgage recording tax nor an intangible tax on the note, and since a 2015 constitutional amendment the state may not impose a real estate transfer tax either. Texas has no real estate transfer tax and no mortgage tax; only recording fees apply. Texas closings run through title companies with state-regulated title premiums; buyer closing costs of about 2% to 3% are modest, but the property tax escrow — Texas has one of the highest effective rates in the country — is large.

Related: Buying another home before selling the first: qualifying with two payments, Conventional loan requirements in 2026: what Fannie Mae’s guide actually says, USDA vs VA vs FHA vs conventional: the four loan types compared, 2026 conforming loan limits: $832,750 in most counties, up to $1,249,125 in high-cost areas. First home in Texas: programs and assistance. Hub: Conventional loan.