VA Loan Limits

How VA loan limits actually work in 2025

VA loan limits can be confusing because they do not cap the price of the home you can buy. Instead, they help lenders calculate how much of your loan the Department of Veterans Affairs will guarantee.

For 2025, most U.S. counties have a standard VA loan limit of $806,500 for a one‑unit property. Certain high‑cost counties have higher limits based on local home prices, up to a maximum of $1,551,250.

Here is how that plays out in practice:

• Full VA entitlement: If you have your full VA home loan entitlement available, there is effectively no loan limit. You can purchase above the county limit with no down payment, as long as the lender approves the loan based on income, credit, and other guidelines.
• Partial entitlement: If you already have a VA loan or have lost entitlement on a prior VA loan, then the county loan limits come back into play. The limit is used to determine how much of the new loan the VA will guarantee.
• Guarantee versus purchase price: The published county limit is not the maximum home price. It is the figure lenders use when they calculate the VA guaranty, which is typically 25% of the loan amount within the limit.

Because VA limits track the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) conforming loan limits, they tend to adjust most years. When conforming limits increase, VA county limits follow.

In short, if you have full entitlement you are not boxed in by the $806,500 or $1,551,250 figures. If you have partial entitlement, those numbers matter because they drive how much you can borrow with little or no down payment.

Using VA loan limits when you already have a VA mortgage

VA loan limits are most important when you are using your benefit a second time or keeping an existing VA loan in place. In those situations, the county limit helps decide how much zero‑down buying power you still have.

Here is the general sequence lenders follow when they apply the limits:

1. Confirm how much entitlement is already in use. This can be from an existing VA loan or from a previous VA loan that was not fully restored.
2. Look up the current county loan limit. For most areas in 2025 that is $806,500, while designated high‑cost counties can be higher.
3. Calculate the VA guaranty available. Lenders typically use 25% of the county limit to determine the maximum guaranty. Any entitlement already tied up with another VA loan is subtracted from that figure.
4. Determine whether a down payment is needed. If the loan you want fits within the remaining guaranty, you may still be able to buy with no money down. If it exceeds the guaranty, the lender will usually require a down payment to cover the difference.

For many experienced buyers, this is where the VA benefit still shines. Even when you have partial entitlement and are over the county limit, the required down payment is often much smaller than it would be with a conventional mortgage of the same size.

When you understand how the 2025 VA loan limits interact with your remaining entitlement, it becomes much easier to plan a move, keep a prior VA loan, or buy again in a more expensive county while still getting as much zero‑down leverage as possible.