FHA Loans in Lexington, SC: The Barr Road Homes Not Yet Built, the Town's Property Taxes and the 2026 Limit

On January 5, 2026, Lexington Town Council voted 6-0 to annex 191 acres in the 300 block of Barr Road, where Meritage Homes plans 299 single-family homes, which a resident described at the meeting as having one entrance. Because the land is now inside the town, the builder has to pay for the traffic studies and the road improvements, as WIS reported two days later.

An FHA loan in Lexington can finance a home that is not built yet, one still going up, or one finished within the past year and never lived in, and FHA handles each of those stages differently. I'm Jeff Moran, NMLS #483943, a mortgage broker licensed in South Carolina through C2 Financial Corporation, and I have been in the mortgage business since 1996. I work from Bluffton and handle Lexington clients by phone and online.

My Lexington page covers the town itself and the Columbia area page covers the region, so here I stay with what changes when the loan is FHA. My South Carolina FHA page covers the basics and the mortgage insurance. The FHA rules below come from HUD's Handbook 4000.1, the rulebook FHA lenders follow.

Barr Road and the three stages of a new home

FHA sorts a new home into one of three stages by how far along it is: not built yet, partly built, or finished within the past year and never lived in. A home someone has already lived in counts as an existing home, however young it is. HUD Handbook 4000.1 asks for different paperwork at each stage, such as inspections along the way or the town's certificate of occupancy, which is its sign-off that a finished home is safe to live in. The builder also signs certifications for your lender.

I did not find a Meritage price list, a builder lender or a builder credit for the Barr Road homes, so I am not assuming any. A lot that is bare when you sign a contract will be at a different stage by closing, which is why I ask the builder what stage the home is in on the day we order the appraisal.

The same council gave final approval on May 4, 2026 to a 51-townhome neighborhood, according to the Town's council action items. The action items call it a PUD, which is a zoning label and does not tell you how each townhome is owned. If a townhome is sold as a condominium, HUD Handbook 4000.1 says the project has to be on FHA's approved list, or FHA has to approve that one unit on its own. A site condominium, where the unit is the home plus the land under it, is a third path under the same Handbook. I read the recorded declaration to see how a community is set up before a client writes an offer.

The 2026 county limit and Lexington's median price

HUD's 2026 limits file lists the FHA limit for a one-unit home in Lexington County at $541,287. Every address inside the Town of Lexington is in Lexington County, so that one figure applies to the whole town. The limit applies to the loan amount, and FHA will not insure a mortgage above it.

Redfin's Lexington market page shows a median sale price of $339,838 for all home types in the three months ending September 2026. That is the middle of everything that sold, and the appraisal sets the value of any particular home. The median is $201,449 below the limit, which says very little about what you can borrow. Your income, debts, credit and the appraised value decide that.

FHA asks you to put in at least 3.5% of the home's value. On a purchase, that value is the lower of two numbers: the price minus any credits the seller or builder gives you, or the appraised value. Three and a half percent of that median is about $11,894. I would rather run it on the contract price of an actual home under contract, because the median is only a market figure.

Your Lexington property tax bill, tax year 2026

The Lexington County Auditor's tax year 2026 millage schedule puts the Town's own levy at 23.6 mills for parcels inside the Town limits. A mill is a tenth of a cent of tax on each dollar of assessed value. The school portion depends on which school district the parcel is in, so I confirm the parcel before I put a number in front of a client.

That 23.6 is one piece of the bill, and the assessment, credits and any separate fees come from the parcel itself. So I never multiply a mill figure by a price. A Lexington mailing address can also be outside the Town limits, in which case the Town's levy does not apply, and my Lexington page explains how to tell.

If you live in the home as your legal residence, South Carolina Code section 12-37-220 exempts it from the school operating tax once the county gives it the 4% legal residence assessment. School bond debt stays on the bill. FHA asks that at least one client on the loan move in within 60 days of signing and plan to stay at least a year. The 4% application is a separate step, and Lexington County's Assessor takes it online from its office at 212 South Lake Drive, Suite 201. I could not find the deadline on the county page, so please ask the Assessor's office when you move in.

On a brand-new home, my article on the first property tax bill explains why that first bill can be low.

Impact fees on a new Lexington home since the June 1 vote

On June 1, 2026, Town Council voted 7-0 at final reading to adopt Phase Two of its development impact fee ordinance, with a supporting study, an affordability study and a capital plan, as the Town's minutes of that meeting record. Phase Two added the transportation part after the Town finished its local transportation plan. The final-reading text covers new development and redevelopment inside the Town limits.

I have not confirmed the Phase Two dollar schedule, and the earlier 2025 schedule is not today's charge, so I will not quote either. The Town's impact fee page says the fees are figured before a building permit and paid before it is issued, and it describes them as developer payments. A builder may or may not fold any of that into a price, so please ask the builder. Either way, the FHA appraisal compares the contract price with the home's value, and the value has to support whatever is in the price. My article on the builder's lender covers how to compare a builder's incentive against a loan of your own.

Twelve Mile Creek and FHA's flood rules

On October 4, 2015, water went over the top of Gibson's Pond Dam, the dam failed and US Highway 1 flooded, as the national dam-safety incident record shows. The Old Mill Pond and Barr Lake dams on the same creek failed in that flood too, and all three have been rehabilitated since. That creek is one reason FHA's flood rules are worth a look for a Lexington home.

For any FHA home, the lender checks the flood zone on its own, separate from the appraiser. If part of the home is in FEMA's high-risk flood zone and flood insurance is available there, HUD Handbook 4000.1 requires you to buy and keep it. A new home in that zone gets a stricter test. The lender has to turn it down unless it has a FEMA letter changing the flood map for that property, or an Elevation Certificate. That is a survey document showing the finished home's lowest floor is above the flood level. I pull FEMA's map for the parcel before a client commits, and my article on buying in a flood zone explains what the premium does to a payment.

Water, sewer and septic on a new home

On a new home, FHA asks for a well water test from the local health authority or a qualified lab, and for a septic report where the local jurisdiction requires one. The Town of Lexington runs a sewer utility, and on May 4, 2026 council authorized the 14 Mile Creek gravity sewer project, which is in the same council action items as the townhome approval. No source I found says which streets each utility serves. So for any lot, I ask the builder or the seller whether the home is on the Town's sewer, on another utility or on a septic tank, and the well test and the septic report follow from that answer.

Putting the payment together for a Lexington address

Once you have a Lexington address or a Barr Road lot in mind, I can run the FHA payment with that parcel's tax district, the flood zone and the association dues once the association gives its own figure. In Rate & Best Fit you see pricing for your scenario and choose the rate option that works best for you, and the choice can change later. The application opens from there. You are always welcome to call me first, and getting pre-approved in South Carolina lists what I will ask you to provide, and the South Carolina page shows where I am licensed.

Nothing on this page is a loan approval, a denial or a commitment to lend, and it is not tax advice. The Auditor's schedule and the parcel record govern the tax district, FEMA's map governs the flood zone, and the builder's written contract governs any incentive. Please confirm each before you rely on a figure here.

Common questions

What is the FHA loan limit in Lexington, SC for 2026?

HUD sets FHA loan limits by county, and every address in the Town of Lexington is in Lexington County, so one figure applies to the whole town. It comes from HUD's 2026 county file, and the figure is in the county limit section above. The Lexington median sale price is well below it, and the limit applies to the amount of the loan, which is a separate figure from the price of a home.

Can I buy a new construction home in Lexington, SC with an FHA loan?

Yes, when the home meets FHA's requirements. FHA sorts a new home into three stages: not built yet, under construction, and finished within the past year and never lived in. The lender collects different inspections and builder forms at each stage, and the stage decides which ones. I ask the builder for the stage and the schedule before a client signs a contract.

Does an FHA loan change which property taxes I pay on a Lexington home?

No. Your property tax depends on where the parcel is, and the loan type has no effect on it. A home inside the Town limits has the Town's levy on top of the county's and the school district's, and a home outside the Town limits with a Lexington mailing address does not carry the Town's levy. The Lexington County Auditor's millage schedule lists the Town limits separately, and the parcel record shows which applies.

How soon do I have to move in with an FHA loan in Lexington, SC?

HUD Handbook 4000.1 requires at least one client on the loan to move in within 60 days of signing the loan document that secures the home. That client also has to intend to stay at least a year. The 4% legal residence assessment is a separate application with Lexington County, so I put it on the move-in list.

Do I need flood insurance on an FHA loan in Lexington, SC?

Only when part of the home is in FEMA's high-risk flood zone and flood insurance is available in the community. The lender checks the flood zone on its own, and FEMA's map for the parcel says which zone applies. A new home in that zone also needs a FEMA map letter or an Elevation Certificate before FHA can insure it.

Does the Town of Lexington's impact fee raise my FHA closing costs?

The Town describes impact fees as developer payments on new development, due before a building permit is issued, and its page does not describe a charge to you. A builder may or may not build any of it into the price, so ask the builder. An FHA appraisal compares the contract price with the appraised value either way.