Mortgage lender in Sussex County, NJ

Buying in Sussex County

Sussex County, with its county seat in Newton, takes in Newton, Sparta, Vernon and Hopatcong. Stellar lends across all of New Jersey, and Sussex 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. Sussex County is designated a high-cost area for conforming loans. Sources: FHFA conforming loan limit values and HUD FHA mortgage limits.

Sussex 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.

Sussex County: lake communities and open land

Sussex County is New Jersey’s northwestern corner: Newton, the county seat, Sparta, Vernon, Hopatcong, Byram, Hardyston, Franklin and Wantage. Much of the housing is in lake communities such as Lake Mohawk in Sparta, Highland Lakes in Vernon and the Sussex side of Lake Hopatcong.

Lake communities usually have association dues, and sometimes private roads, both of which a lender has to account for. Many lake houses began as seasonal cottages, so the appraiser looks at whether the home is built for year-round use. Private wells and septic systems are the rule outside the town centers. Sussex is counted in the New York metropolitan area for conforming loans, so its 2026 conforming limit is well above the national baseline, even though prices here are lower than in the counties to the east.

Sussex County by the numbers

Median home value

$369,400 (Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, table B25077)

Typical property tax

About 2.32% of home value a year: median tax bill $8,568 on a median value of $369,400 (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

Vernon Township, Sparta Township, Hopatcong, Wantage Township (Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, table B01003)

The county median home value is $369,400. 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 Sussex County buyers ask

Conforming limit shown is the 2026 FHFA figure for Sussex 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.