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FHA loans in South Carolina: five counties break the floor. The other 41 do not.
South Carolina has 46 counties and 41 of them sit at the national FHA floor of $541,287, which means for most of the state there is nothing to look up. The exceptions are the three Charleston tri-county jurisdictions and the two that make up the Hilton Head market. This is also the state we know best, because it is where we are.
2026 figures, taken from HUD's own county limits file. Subject to eligibility and lender guidelines.
"You will need to check the FHA limit for your county in South Carolina."
For 41 of 46 counties the answer is already known:
- $541,287 on a one-unit home, statewide default
- Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester: $690,000
- Beaufort and Jasper: $638,250
- No South Carolina county reaches the national ceiling
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2026 FHA loan limits in South Carolina
46 counties, 41 of them at the national floor and 5 above it. Find yours in the table, and note that the limit is a cap on the loan amount rather than a statement about what you qualify for.
| One unit | Two units | Three units | Four units | Where it applies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $690,000 | $883,300 | $1,067,750 | $1,326,950 | Berkeley County, Charleston County, Dorchester County |
| $638,250 | $817,050 | $987,650 | $1,227,400 | Beaufort County, Jasper County |
| $541,287 | $693,050 | $837,700 | $1,041,125 | The remaining 41 counties |
County figures from HUD's CY2026 forward mortgage limits file; national floor and ceiling from Mortgagee Letter 2025-23, effective for case numbers assigned on or after January 1, 2026. Confirm your own county on HUD's official lookup before it matters, since these change each January. Charleston tri-county and Beaufort-Jasper figures are HUD area calculations, not our estimates. Not a commitment to lend.
What actually complicates a Lowcountry file
The limit is rarely the thing that stops a Charleston-area purchase. Flood is. A large share of the tri-county sits in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area, and when a property does, flood insurance becomes part of your monthly housing payment. That matters more than it sounds: the payment FHA uses for your ratios includes hazard and flood premiums, so two identical houses at the same price can qualify differently depending on which flood zone they sit in.
The second Lowcountry pattern is older housing stock. Peninsula Charleston and the older parts of North Charleston have homes that predate a lot of what an FHA appraiser is required to flag. Peeling paint on a pre-1978 house, a roof with less than two years of life left, crawl space moisture: these are appraisal findings that turn into repair conditions before closing, not credit problems.
Neither of those is a South Carolina FHA rule. They are local property realities that show up inside federal rules, which is exactly the distinction worth understanding before you assume a denial was about you.
Who regulates us in South Carolina
Home Loans Inc: Jason Sharon, Mortgage Broker is licensed as a mortgage broker in South Carolina through the SC Board of Financial Institutions, Consumer Finance Division, under company NMLS #1728740. Jason Sharon's individual licence is NMLS #1281448.
The South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs is the state agency that receives borrower complaints. You can reach them at 293 Greystone Blvd, Ste 400, Columbia, SC 29210, or (800) 922-1594.
South Carolina advertising standards prohibit a broker from presenting itself as a lender. We are a broker. We shop wholesale lenders on your behalf and we do not lend our own money.
We are a broker rather than a lender, which in South Carolina is also a compliance point: state advertising rules do not let a broker present itself as a lender. Practically, it means we place your file with whichever wholesale lender fits it. HUD also maintains a South Carolina page covering local housing programs and assistance.
The 46 figures above are the only state-specific part
If your Charleston-area file stalled, the reason is almost certainly on this list rather than in the limit table above. The real DTI ceilings are the usual culprit, and a flood-zone premium is often what pushed the ratio there. The requirements themselves have not changed.
Comparing states? The state hub sets out what is federal and what is local across all ten states we are licensed in.
What people ask about FHA loans in South Carolina
What is the FHA loan limit in Charleston, SC for 2026?
For a one-unit property in Berkeley, Charleston or Dorchester County the 2026 FHA limit is $690,000. Those three counties share a limit because HUD sets it across the Charleston-North Charleston metropolitan area. Two-unit is $883,100, three-unit $1,067,450 and four-unit $1,326,400.
Is the FHA limit the same across all of South Carolina?
No, but it nearly is. 41 of the 46 counties are at the national floor of $541,287. Only Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester, Beaufort and Jasper are higher. Greenville, Columbia, Spartanburg and Myrtle Beach are all at the floor.
Does living in a flood zone affect whether I qualify for an FHA loan?
It can affect the math rather than your eligibility. Required flood insurance becomes part of the monthly housing payment used in your debt-to-income calculation, so a property in a Special Flood Hazard Area carries a higher qualifying payment at the same purchase price. That is a real consideration across much of the Lowcountry.
Are South Carolina FHA requirements different from other states?
The FHA requirements are not. Credit, down payment, ratios and waiting periods come from HUD Handbook 4000.1 and are federal. What is genuinely South Carolina specific is the county loan limit, the state complaint process through the Department of Consumer Affairs, and the advertising rule that stops a broker from calling itself a lender.
Let's re-run your math the right way.
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