Currently, 97% of the U.S. landmass is USDA-eligible.

If you’re banking on using a USDA loan to buy a house, it might be time to start getting serious about that option. Because the 2020 census could change the map of eligible areas. Currently, 97% of the U.S. landmass is USDA-eligible. But the map is based on population size, and it hasn’t been completely revised since 2000. There’s no guarantee the USDA program will change after the 2020 census. But if new population data is accounted for, that 97-percent-eligible map could shrink significantly — cutting way back on the number of homes that qualify for zero-down USDA financing. The last time the census triggered a wholesale revision of the USDA loan map was in 2000. After the 2010 census, the American economy was considered still too weak from the Great Recession to change the program significantly. True, there was a limited reform in 2017. But that barely tinkered with the map. Thus, the USDA loan map hasn’t substantially changed in 20 years. Now, it’s possible that the administration could think the 2021 post-pandemic economy too weak to implement map changes, just as happened in 2010. But that might depend on the results of the next election and who sits in the Oval Office and controls Congress. In short, there’s a lot of uncertainty about what will happen to USDA lending after the 2020 census.

Source: The Mortgage Reports