Yes, you can get a reverse mortgage if your home is worth more than $1.25 million. Jay Zayer, CRMP, is a reverse mortgage specialist at reversemortgage.coach. A Home Equity Conversion Mortgage does not fail because the house is expensive. 24 CFR 206.33 age, 24 CFR 206.39 occupancy, 24 CFR 206.35 title, and 24 CFR 206.45 property still decide eligibility. For 2026 case numbers HUD’s claim-amount ceiling is $1,249,125 in Mortgagee Letter 2025-22. An appraisal above that number does not increase HECM proceeds.
A borrower in La Jolla, California, recently: Ada, 79, occupies a paid-off house well above the 2026 cap. She can still be 62, occupy, and close a HECM. The factor multiplies claim amount, which stops at $1,249,125, not at the La Jolla appraisal. Extra dollars are sale equity. They are not extra FHA cash. This page is the eligibility verdict. See maximum property value for the cap arithmetic. Stay here when the live question is “am I even allowed.”
A HECM remains FHA-insured. A high appraisal is not a government jumbo stipend.
Can I still originate a HECM if the appraisal comes in over the 2026 cap?
Yes, when occupancy, title, age, and property standards pass. The cap is proceeds math, not a deny. HUD does not print “above this appraisal, ineligible.” It prints a national claim-amount ceiling in Mortgagee Letter 2025-22.
Ada’s leftover cash still tracks the mid-30s to low-50s of that capped claim amount after age and expected rate. I will not quote a live principal-limit cell. Run the capped worksheet. Do not interpolate HUD rows. Do not type the full La Jolla number into the proceeds box as if FHA will insure it.
Mortgagee Letter 2017-12 still charges 2.00% initial MIP of maximum claim amount. On a house at or above the cap that means 2.00% of $1,249,125, or $24,982.50, often shown as $24,983 to the nearest dollar as of the 2026 figures in hecm-factors.md. Annual MIP is 0.50% of outstanding balance. Origination is still capped at $6,000 under 24 CFR 206.31. A $1.8 million appraisal does not raise those HUD figures.
Does leftover HECM cash use my full appraisal or only the claim-amount cap?
Only the cap. Principal limit follows claim amount, which is the lesser of appraised value and $1,249,125 for 2026. 24 CFR 206.25 still limits first-year draws. A high-value house does not waive the 60% first-year rule. Mandatory obligations plus ten percent of principal limit can change the dollar figure. The ceiling still sits underneath that math.
If residual income requires a LESA, that tax-and-insurance set-aside is still origination-only even on a high-value house. A LESA does not unlock value above the cap. Counseling still costs $125–$175. The HUD certificate lasts 180 days. California Civil Code 1923.2(k) still adds seven days after counseling on Ada’s file. Do not start that clock expecting FHA to insure the extra million.
A second geography: a 70-year-old in Scottsdale whose desert house also sits above the cap. Same 2026 $1,249,125 claim-amount ceiling. Arizona has no 1923.2(k) pause. The cap does not change with the view.
When is a proprietary reverse mortgage the better conversation on a high-value house?
When Ada needs proceeds tied to the full La Jolla appraisal and a capped HECM cannot get there. HomeSafe, Longbridge Platinum, Finance of America, and Mutual of Omaha Secure Equity are the notes Jay closes when FHA’s ceiling is the wrong tool. They can start at 55 in California. They are not FHA-insured. They are not automatically cheaper. Compare fees, non-recourse terms, and occupancy rules on a Loan Estimate. I will not promise proprietary “wins.”
An adjustable HECM on Ada’s capped house still accrues at 1-month CMT plus lender margin. Expected rate still rounds to 0.125% under 24 CFR 206.3. Jay still quotes about 30 days on a complete high-value refinance when occupancy and title are already true.
Heirs who later keep Ada’s house repay the outstanding loan balance under 24 CFR 206.125(a)(2)(i), not 95% of the La Jolla appraisal. Dollars above the cap can mean more leftover sale proceeds after that balance is paid. They are not extra HECM proceeds today.
Who should not originate a HECM expecting FHA to insure the extra million?
This path does not help a household that will not occupy. 24 CFR 206.39 still applies in La Jolla. It does not help a household that needs a principal limit tied to the full appraisal and refuses to look at a proprietary estimate. I will show both. I will not pretend the HECM cap moves because the view is famous.
I work with multiple lenders. I will originate a capped HECM when Ada occupies and the worksheet names the $1,249,125 ceiling out loud. I will turn away a high-value file whose only thesis is that HUD will insure the landscaping. A famous view does not move Mortgagee Letter 2025-22’s claim-amount ceiling. Extra equity stays equity.