Mortgage lender in Passaic County, NJ

Buying in Passaic County

Passaic County, with its county seat in Paterson, takes in Paterson, Clifton, Wayne, Passaic and West Milford. Stellar lends across all of New Jersey, and Passaic 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. Passaic County is designated a high-cost area for conforming loans. Sources: FHFA conforming loan limit values and HUD FHA mortgage limits.

Passaic 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.

Passaic County: two very different halves

Passaic County is shaped like an hourglass. The lower half holds Paterson, the county seat, plus Passaic, Clifton, Haledon and Prospect Park, with Totowa, Little Falls, Woodland Park and Wayne just to the west. The upper half, West Milford, Ringwood, Wanaque and Bloomingdale, is lake and highlands country.

In Paterson, Passaic and Clifton, two- to four-family homes are a large part of what sells. Buying one to live in is owner-occupant financing, and part of the rent from the other units can sometimes be counted, depending on the program; we also confirm the property type against NJHMFA rules if you are using its assistance. Along the Passaic and Pompton rivers, in parts of Wayne, Little Falls, Totowa and Paterson, some homes are in a mapped flood zone, so we check the flood determination before you commit. Up-county, expect wells, septic systems and lake-community association dues. We work in English, Spanish, Russian and Ukrainian.

Passaic County by the numbers

Median home value

$459,500 (Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, table B25077)

Typical property tax

Median tax bill of $10,000 or more, the highest bracket the Census Bureau reports (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

Paterson, Clifton, Passaic, Wayne Township (Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, table B01003)

The county median home value is $459,500. 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 Passaic County buyers ask

Conforming limit shown is the 2026 FHFA figure for Passaic 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.