FHA Loans

FHA loans in San Jose, CA: 2026 limits and what buyers actually pay

Updated November 13, 2026

By Vinura Abeysundara

Head of Growth at TurboHome

Reviewed by:

Vinura Abeysundara

Head of Growth at TurboHome

Kevin Kretzmer

Head Agent, California · CalDRE #01997822

FHA loans are nearly absent in San Jose: 21 of 1,657 closings with a recorded financing type used one from May through October 2026, or 1.3%. FHA buyers paid a median $700,000, against $1,362,000 citywide, and the 2026 FHA loan limit for a one-unit home in Santa Clara County is $1,249,125. Those few FHA closings came in at a median 100.14% of list, while cash closed below list at 99.00%, and FHA homes sat a median 32 days on market against 16 for cash.

TurboHome Market Analysis · 1,697 closings · May 1 to Oct 31, 2026 · Last updated November 13, 2026

This guide answers two questions with local data: can you buy a home in San Jose with an FHA loan, and how do FHA offers fare against cash. It uses 1,697 single-family, condo and townhouse closings in our MLS feed from May 1 to October 31, 2026, of which 1,657 (97.6%) recorded a single financing type.

What is the FHA loan limit in San Jose?

The 2026 FHA loan limit for a one-unit home in Santa Clara County is $1,249,125, according to HUD's FHA mortgage limits lookup (checked November 13, 2026). 41.7% of San Jose closings from May through October 2026 were priced at or under that figure. That is the national ceiling for high-cost areas. That is the lowest share of the six California cities in this series, because the citywide median of $1,362,000 is above the limit.

Nationally, the 2026 FHA one-unit limit runs from a floor of $541,287 in lower-cost areas to a ceiling of $1,249,125 in high-cost areas. For comparison, the 2026 conforming loan limit is $832,750, with a high-cost ceiling of $1,249,125.

The limit caps the loan amount, not the price. A buyer can pay more than the limit with a larger down payment, so the share of homes priced at or under it understates what FHA can reach.

The FHA rules that decide whether you qualify, from HUD Handbook 4000.1 (checked November 13, 2026):

Down payment and credit score: at least 3.5% down with a credit score of 580 or higher, and at least 10% down with a score from 500 to 579. Scores under 500 are not eligible.
Upfront mortgage insurance: 1.75% of the base loan amount.
Annual mortgage insurance on loans longer than 15 years: 0.50% to 0.55% of the loan a year for base loan amounts up to $726,200, and 0.70% to 0.75% above that, depending on the down payment. With less than 10% down it lasts for the life of the loan; with 10% or more down, 11 years.
Seller and agent credits: interested parties, including the seller and real estate agents, can contribute up to 6% of the sales price toward closing costs, prepaid items and discount points, but not toward the minimum down payment.

How many buyers in San Jose actually use an FHA loan

1,657 of 1,697 San Jose closings from May through October 2026 (97.6%) recorded a single financing type. Of those, 1.3% used an FHA loan (21 closings), against 0.8% in the same months of 2025. FHA rose from 0.8% a year earlier and VA from 0.5% to 1.0%, but both remain tiny next to conventional loans (74.0%, down from 77.2%) and cash (19.1%, up from 17.5%).

How San Jose buyers paid, share of closings with a single recorded financing type, data table
Financing	Share, May to Oct 2026	Share, May to Oct 2025
FHA	1.3%	0.8%
VA	1.0%	0.5%
Cash	19.1%	17.5%
Conventional	74.0%	77.2%

FHA buyers paid a median $700,000, against $935,000 in the same months of 2025 (both small samples, 21 closings in 2026 and 13 in 2025). The citywide median was $1,362,000, down 3.1% from $1,405,328, and the median home sold in 15 days, the same as a year earlier.

Where FHA buyers are closing in San Jose

FHA share. Every figure is in the table below.

San Jose neighborhoods with at least 20 closings with a recorded financing type, May 1 to October 31, 2026, by volume. A dash means the neighborhood had no FHA closings. Neighborhood FHA medians rest on few closings., data table
Neighborhood	Closings	FHA	VA	Cash	Median price	Median FHA price
Willow Glen	107	0%	0.9%	33.6%	$2,115,000	-
Downtown San Jose	86	3.5%	1.2%	24.4%	$910,000	$900,000
The Villages	53	0%	1.9%	62.3%	$775,000	-
Willow Glen South / Lincoln Glen	37	0%	2.7%	29.7%	$1,870,000	-
Doerr / Steindorf	28	0%	3.6%	7.1%	$1,677,500	-
Communication Hill	24	0%	4.2%	25.0%	$1,006,500	-
Alum Rock	21	0%	4.8%	23.8%	$905,000	-
Shasta Hanchett Park	20	0%	0%	45.0%	$1,962,500	-

Downtown San Jose is the only listed neighborhood with any FHA closings: 3.5% of its 86 closings, at an FHA median of $900,000 against $910,000 for the neighborhood.

The other seven, from Willow Glen (median $2,115,000) to The Villages ($775,000), recorded none in six months. In The Villages, 62.3% of closings were cash, the highest cash share of any San Jose neighborhood we list.

FHA by price range in San Jose

Share of San Jose closings by financing type and sale price, May 1 to October 31, 2026, data table
Price range	Closings	FHA	VA	Cash
$300K to $500K	63	7.9%	3.2%	34.9%
$500K to $750K	194	3.1%	1.0%	19.6%
$750K to $1M	227	3.5%	1.8%	17.2%
$1M to $1.5M	448	0.4%	0.9%	23.2%
$1.5M and up	725	0%	0.6%	15.6%

The highest FHA share is in the $300,000 to $500,000 band, at 7.9% of 63 closings. It falls to 0.4% from $1 million to $1.5 million and to none above $1.5 million, the band that held 725 of San Jose's 1,657 coded closings.

Do sellers accept FHA offers in San Jose?

Here is how San Jose closings compared by how the buyer paid. The closed sales show what each group paid and how long the home sat on the market, not why a seller picked one offer over another.

San Jose closings by financing type, May 1 to October 31, 2026. Sale-to-list is the closed price divided by the final list price., data table
Financing	Closings	Median price	Median days on market	Median sale-to-list	Closed above asking	Closed below asking
FHA	21	$700,000	32	100.14%	52.4%	38.1%
Conventional	1,223	$1,435,500	14	100.02%	51.0%	40.1%
Cash	315	$1,300,000	16	99.00%	35.6%	51.4%
VA	16	$1,005,000	27	100.03%	50.0%	31.3%

With only 21 FHA closings, the FHA figures here are a small sample, so read them as a sketch. FHA closings came in at a median 100.14% of list and cash at 99.00%, and 51.4% of cash closings went below asking against 38.1% for FHA.

FHA homes took a median 32 days to sell, against 16 for cash and 14 for conventional loans. FHA buyers paid a median $700,000 against $1,300,000 for cash, so the two groups were buying very different homes.

Condos and FHA in San Jose

0.5% of San Jose's single-family closings and 3.4% of its condo closings used an FHA loan. Of the FHA closings, 28.6% were single-family homes and 52.4% condos. San Jose is the one California city in this series where most FHA buyers bought condos: 52.4% of FHA closings were condos and 28.6% single-family homes, and 3.4% of condo sales used FHA against 0.5% of house sales.

FHA insures a condo loan only when the unit is in an FHA-approved condominium project, meets FHA's site condominium definition or has completed FHA's Single-Unit Approval (HUD Handbook 4000.1), so ask your lender to check the building before you write an offer.

What this means for your offer in San Jose

Only 41.7% of San Jose closings were priced at or under the $1,249,125 limit, so an FHA buyer here is usually shopping condos or homes under $1 million, the price bands where nearly all of the city's FHA closings happened.

Expect a slower path: San Jose FHA homes took a median 32 days on market, against 15 citywide, and with only 21 FHA sales in six months there are few recent FHA comparisons, so lean on a comparable-based valuation of the specific home.

Freddie Mac's weekly survey put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.11% on November 12, 2026, down from 7.18% the week before and up from 6.24% a year earlier. FHA quotes differ from that average, so compare an FHA quote with a conventional one with mortgage insurance included.

TurboHome's own California buyers took a median 28 days from accepted offer to closing on a conventional loan, against 14 days with cash (closings November 1, 2025 to October 31, 2026). Our own FHA closings are too few to report a median. The median TurboHome buyer refund in California was $14,663. 59% of TurboHome's California buyers who stated a preference (91 of 155) chose cash credits at closing. On an FHA purchase, a cash credit at closing counts toward HUD's 6% limit on interested party contributions and can pay closing costs, prepaid items and discount points, but not the 3.5% down payment.

Before a TurboHome buyer writes an offer, their agent runs a comparable-based valuation of the home and an AI offer-acceptance prediction, so the offer price rests on recent sales of similar homes rather than a citywide average. See also how much over asking San Jose buyers pay.

Methodology

Source: TurboHome's MLS closings data (our MLS feed), closings from May 1 to October 31, 2026, compared with May 1 to October 31, 2025.

Filters: single-family homes, condos and townhouses only; closings under $50,000 excluded. Financing shares use only closings where the MLS buyer-financing field carries a single value: 1,657 of 1,697 San Jose closings (97.6%). The financing mix counts every closing with a single recorded financing type. The table comparing financing types also requires a recorded days on market from 0 to 730 days, which drops a few listings per city, so its FHA count and median can differ slightly from the financing mix. Neighborhoods are those with at least 20 such closings. Prices, days on market and sale-to-list ratios are medians.

Coverage: Buyer financing is not reported in every MLS. San Francisco, Houston and Katy have almost no buyer-financing data (8% of San Francisco closings carry a financing code, and under 1% of Houston closings), and in Los Angeles and Pasadena the closings with a financing code skew far cheaper than those without one ($845,000 against $1,450,000 in Los Angeles). We left those cities out of this series rather than publish a biased share. Sacramento is left out because its sample is too small.

FHA loan limits: the Santa Clara County one-unit limit is from HUD's FHA mortgage limits lookup (FHA Forward, CY2026), checked November 13, 2026. These are the 2026 limits. HUD announced them in December 2025, and they apply to FHA case numbers assigned January 1 through December 31, 2026, so expect new figures for 2027. National floor and ceiling: NAR (December 11, 2025) and NAHB. Conforming limits: Rocket Mortgage (updated January 5, 2026).

FHA rules: HUD Handbook 4000.1, last revised November 26, 2025, checked November 13, 2026; annual mortgage insurance rates from Mortgagee Letter 2023-05. Mortgage rate: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, November 12, 2026.

TurboHome figures: TurboHome's own closings over $50,000 from November 1, 2025 to October 31, 2026. Our own FHA and VA closings are too few to report as medians.

Notes for San Jose:

FHA medians rest on small samples: 21 FHA closings in 2026 and 13 in the same months of 2025.

FAQ

What is the FHA loan limit in San Jose in 2026?

$1,249,125 for a one-unit home. San Jose is in Santa Clara County, and that is HUD's 2026 FHA limit for the county (checked November 13, 2026); 41.7% of San Jose closings from May through October 2026 were priced at or under it. The limits apply to FHA case numbers assigned in 2026 and are expected to change for 2027.

How many San Jose home buyers use an FHA loan?

1.3% of San Jose closings with a recorded financing type used an FHA loan from May through October 2026 (21 closings), against 0.8% in the same months of 2025. FHA buyers paid a median $700,000, against $1,362,000 citywide.

Do sellers in San Jose accept FHA offers?

Some do, but FHA is rare here: 21 of 1,657 coded closings from May through October 2026. Those FHA closings came in at a median 100.14% of list, against 99.00% for cash, and took a median 32 days to sell against 16 for cash. With so few FHA sales, treat those figures as a small sample.

Can I use a buyer's agent rebate with an FHA loan?

Usually yes, as a credit toward closing costs. HUD's FHA handbook (4000.1, last revised November 26, 2025, checked November 13, 2026) counts real estate agents and sellers as interested parties, and together they can contribute up to 6% of the sales price toward your origination fees, other closing costs, prepaid items and discount points. Those contributions cannot pay the 3.5% minimum down payment, and anything above 6% or above your actual costs is treated as an inducement that lowers the price your loan is based on, so tell your lender about the rebate early.

Which companies refund the buyer's agent commission in California?

TurboHome is a flat-fee buyer's brokerage that refunds the rest of the buyer-side commission to the buyer at closing in California, including in San Jose. Our California roundup also covers Homa, beycome, Prevu, Congress Realty and Clever Real Estate; see companies that refund the buyer's agent commission in California for how each one works.

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