Mortgage lender in Ocean County, NJ

Buying in Ocean County

Ocean County, with its county seat in Toms River, takes in Toms River, Lakewood, Brick, Jackson, Manchester, Point Pleasant and Long Beach Island. Stellar lends across all of New Jersey, and Ocean County files are handled from our Hamilton, NJ office by a licensed officer you can reach directly.

2026 conforming limit

$1,209,750 (high-cost area)

2026 FHA limit

$1,249,125 (one-unit, set by HUD)

Above that

Jumbo pricing

Closing handled by

attorney

State housing agency

NJHMFA (participating lender)

Your office

Hamilton, NJ

2026 limits for a one-unit property. Ocean County is designated a high-cost area for conforming loans. Sources: FHFA conforming loan limit values and HUD FHA mortgage limits.

Ocean County sits inside the New York metropolitan high-cost area, so its conforming limit is $1,209,750, the FHFA high-cost limit for this area, rather than the national baseline of $832,750. That matters: a loan that would be jumbo elsewhere in New Jersey can still be a conforming loan here, with conforming pricing and guidelines.

Ocean County: Lakewood, Toms River, the barrier islands and the 55+ market

Ocean County has been one of the fastest-growing counties in New Jersey for years, and the growth is concentrated in a few places. Lakewood is one of the fastest-growing municipalities in the state, with a large volume of new construction, townhouses and two- to four-family homes; Jackson and Manchester have absorbed much of the overflow. Toms River, Brick and Berkeley are the county's established single-family suburbs, and the barrier islands from Point Pleasant Beach down through Seaside Heights and Long Beach Island are the shore market. The county also has one of the largest concentrations of age-restricted communities in the country, especially in Manchester, Berkeley, Lakewood and Toms River.

Ocean County is part of the New York high-cost area, so the higher New York-area limit applies to conforming loans, and prices here are generally lower than Monmouth and Middlesex for comparable homes. Shore and bayfront addresses carry flood zone and insurance questions we resolve before the offer. Age-restricted communities carry occupancy rules and association fees that go into the qualifying payment. And new construction in Lakewood and Jackson brings builder contracts and incentive documentation we handle regularly.

Attorney review follows the signed contract, and NJHMFA assistance pairs with FHA, VA, USDA and conventional loans for buyers within its limits. Files are handled from our Hamilton branch by a licensed New Jersey officer, with Russian- and Ukrainian-language versions of this page available.

Ocean County by the numbers

Median home value

$398,400 (Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, table B25077)

Typical property tax

About 1.65% of home value a year: median tax bill $6,562 on a median value of $398,400 (Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, table B25103)

Transfer tax

Realty Transfer Fee on a graduated schedule per $500 of the price, charged to the seller (New Jersey Division of Taxation)

Largest communities

Lakewood Township, Toms River Township, Brick Township, Jackson Township (Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, table B01003)

The county median home value is $398,400. The 2026 one-unit conforming loan limit here is $1,209,750 and the FHA limit is $1,249,125.

Census figures are survey estimates for owner-occupied homes, not appraisals or tax quotes. We use the actual tax bill for the property when we quote.

Closing and programs in New Jersey

Closings in New Jersey are typically handled by an attorney. The closing process, state transfer and recording taxes and first-time buyer programs are covered on the New Jersey page. Property taxes are set locally; we take the figure from the tax record for the address.

Questions Ocean County buyers ask

Conforming limit shown is the 2026 FHFA figure for Ocean County. FHA limits and state agency caps are set by HUD and NJHMFA and change periodically. Verify on the official source. Not a commitment to lend.