Georgia mortgage financing, matched to a state built around one dominant metro.

Why Georgia's mortgage market plays by different rules

Georgia's loan-limit story looks different from both California's and Florida's. With 159 counties — second only to Texas nationwide — Georgia is overwhelmingly a floor-limit state: HUD sets the 2026 FHA limit at the national floor of $541,287 for roughly 125 of those counties, including Chatham County (Savannah) and Richmond County (Augusta). There's no dramatic coast-versus-inland swing like California, and no small handful of standout exceptions like Florida's Miami-Dade and the Keys. Instead, Georgia has one clear, dominant outlier: the 29-county Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metro area, where the FHA limit steps up to $718,750 — a direct reflection of Atlanta's role as the Southeast's primary corporate and population center.

That Atlanta premium exists for a real reason. The metro is home to corporate headquarters including Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, Home Depot, and UPS, and it has drawn sustained in-migration for years, which has pushed home prices in Fulton County and the surrounding metro well above the statewide median. A smaller number of counties carry their own, smaller premiums for their own reasons — Greene County, anchored by the Lake Oconee second-home and retirement market, sits at $638,250, and the Athens area (Clarke, Madison, Oconee, and Oglethorpe counties), driven by the University of Georgia's local economy, sits at $616,400. Outside of these pockets, Georgia's FHA math is remarkably consistent statewide.

The other piece of the picture is pace. Atlanta's close-in neighborhoods — the kind of submarkets covered on this site's Atlanta guide — move quickly and competitively, driven by continued corporate relocation and population growth, while Savannah, Augusta, and most of the rest of the state move at a more typical, less frantic pace. Being fully underwritten before you write an offer matters more in the metro than it does almost anywhere else in Georgia.

Who this page is built for

• Buyers navigating Atlanta's competitive intown market, where the elevated $718,750 limit still leaves room above the metro median
• Veterans near Georgia's major military communities — Fort Moore, Fort Eisenhower, Robins Air Force Base, and Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay — weighing a VA loan against other programs
• Investors comparing DSCR financing in Atlanta's relocation-driven rental market against steadier demand in Savannah and Augusta
• First-time buyers anywhere across the roughly 125 Georgia counties sitting at the $541,287 FHA floor, where 3.5% down goes a long way

Buying somewhere else in Georgia? Every program on this page is available statewide — reach out and we'll walk through the loan limit and program that fits your specific county.

You're buying in the Atlanta metro. The $718,750 FHA limit across Fulton County and the wider 29-county metro leaves real room above the area's median home price, but competitive intown submarkets still move fast — worth confirming your target neighborhood's pricing before you fall in love with a listing.

You're a veteran near Fort Moore, Fort Eisenhower, Robins AFB, or Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay. A VA loan means no down payment, no monthly mortgage insurance, and — for veterans with full entitlement — no county loan limit at all, which is a real advantage even in Georgia's lower-cost counties.

You're an investor eyeing a rental in Atlanta, Savannah, or Augusta. DSCR financing qualifies off the property's rental income — not your personal income — which fits naturally with Atlanta's relocation-driven demand and the steadier rental markets around Savannah's tourism economy and Augusta's medical and military base.

You're a first-time buyer outside the Atlanta metro. FHA's 3.5% down payment option goes a long way in the roughly 125 Georgia counties sitting at the $541,287 floor, including Chatham (Savannah) and Richmond (Augusta).

Tell Us Your Situation →