Mortgage lender in Berks County, PA

Buying in Berks County

Berks County, with its county seat in Reading, takes in Reading, Wyomissing, Boyertown, Kutztown and Hamburg. Stellar lends across all of Pennsylvania, and Berks County files are handled from our Southampton, PA office by a licensed officer you can reach directly.

2026 conforming limit

$832,750

2026 FHA limit

$541,287 (one-unit, set by HUD)

Above that

Jumbo pricing

Closing handled by

title company

State housing agency

PHFA (participating lender)

Your office

Southampton, PA

2026 limits for a one-unit property. Berks County is not designated a high-cost area for conforming loans. Sources: FHFA conforming loan limit values and HUD FHA mortgage limits.

The 2026 baseline conforming limit is $832,750 nationally, and that is the figure that applies in Berks County. Loans above it are jumbo, which means tighter reserves and different pricing.

Berks County, block by block

Berks is really three markets. In the City of Reading most of the housing is brick rowhomes and twins, many built before 1940, where prices run well below the surrounding suburbs and two- to four-unit properties are common. Around the city, Wyomissing, West Lawn, Sinking Spring, Shillington and Exeter Township are the established suburbs. North and west, toward Hamburg, Bernville and Kutztown, the county turns to farmland and small boroughs.

Each one changes the file. Older Reading homes are where an FHA or VA appraiser is most likely to call for repairs, so we talk through condition before you write the offer. Buying a two- to four-unit home to live in follows owner-occupant rules, and part of the rent from the other units can sometimes be counted. In the rural townships, wells and septic systems are routine and some addresses fall inside the USDA eligibility map, which we check by address. School taxes differ a good deal from one Berks district to the next, so we build the payment from the actual tax bill.

Berks County by the numbers

Median home value

$257,300 (Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, table B25077)

Typical property tax

About 1.65% of home value a year: median tax bill $4,239 on a median value of $257,300 (Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, table B25103)

Transfer tax

State realty transfer tax of 1% of the value, plus a local tax that varies by municipality (Pennsylvania Department of Revenue)

Largest communities

Reading, Spring Township, Exeter Township, Muhlenberg Township (Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, table B01003)

The county median home value is $257,300. The 2026 one-unit conforming loan limit here is $832,750 and the FHA limit is $541,287.

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 Pennsylvania

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

Questions Berks County buyers ask

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