California mortgage help, city by city.

Choice Home Mortgage is a family-owned California mortgage broker (NMLS #2629064, CA DRE #01822046) serving buyers and homeowners across California since 2005. As a broker — not a bank — we put many lenders in competition for your file instead of selling one institution’s products, and owner Esther Buede handles each loan personally.

California’s 2026 conforming loan limits are not one number: they range from the $832,750 national baseline up to $1,249,125 in the highest-cost counties, and 141 of the California cities we cover sit in those high-cost areas — Alameda County, Los Angeles County, Orange County, Contra Costa County. That matters because the same loan amount can be a routine conforming loan in one California county and a jumbo in the next, and knowing which side of the line your purchase lands on is half the work. Limits per FHFA 2026; verify your scenario with us.

Our California coverage spans 212 cities, from larger metros like Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco to smaller communities where local loan knowledge is harder to find. Many are entry and first-time-buyer markets where FHA, down-payment-assistance, and CalHFA-style programs do the heavy lifting; others are higher-cost markets where high-balance and jumbo financing is the norm. Each city page below carries that city’s own county loan limit, real neighborhoods, local landmark, and the loan types that actually fit its price points — not a templated paragraph with the name swapped.

However you’re coming to the California market — a first-time buyer weighing FHA against conventional, a move-up buyer in a higher-cost county sizing up high-balance or jumbo financing, or a homeowner looking at a refinance — the starting point is the same: figure out your real numbers, then match them to the right program. Because we’re a broker, we can shop that scenario across many lenders instead of forcing it into one bank’s box. Pick your California city below to see its specific loan limit and the programs that fit, or call (949) 522-7310 and we’ll point you to the right starting line.

NMLS #2629064, CA DRE #01822046. Equal Housing Opportunity.