Ultimately your maximum loan amount will be determined by your financial situation (income, credit score, debt-to-income ratio, savings) and the property you want to buy. However, most lenders will follow lending caps set by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Those caps limit the size of the “conforming” loans that lenders sell to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprises that purchase, aggregate, and resell mortgages. Maximum loan amounts vary by county and are recalculated annually.