Basics

• FHA places a general nationwide limit on the mortgages it guarantees. As of 2011, that limit was $271,050 for a single-family home. But that won't pay for much in big cities and other areas with high housing demand, so FHA allows for higher mortgage limits in certain areas. Limits are set at the county level, and every county in New Jersey has maximums higher than the general nationwide limit. FHA guarantees mortgages not only on single family homes, but also on residential properties that have two, three and four units.
  
  

Highest Limits

• In 12 counties in New Jersey, the FHA's mortgage limits match the highest limits anywhere else in the continental United States. That maximum, as of 2011, is $729,750 for a single-family home. Those counties are Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Union. Monmouth and Ocean counties are on the state's Atlantic coast. The rest are in the northern part of the state, west of New York City. The maximum mortgages for multiple-unit properties in these 12 counties are $934,200 for two units, $1,129,250 for three and $1,403,400 for four.
  
  

Lowest Limits

• The lowest limits in New Jersey as of 2011 are in Warren County in the northwest corner of the state and Cumberland County in the south. In Warren County, which borders the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton area of Pennsylvania, the limits are $402,500 for a single family home, $515,250 for a duplex, $622,850 for a triplex and $774,050 for a four-unit building. In Cumberland County, which sits on Delaware Bay, the limits are $405,000 for one unit, $518,450 for two, $626,700 for three and $778,850 for four.
  
  

In Between

• New Jersey's seven remaining counties -- Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Gloucester, Mercer and Salem -- all have limits in the $400,000s for single family homes. In Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem counties, the limits as of 2011 are $420,000 for a single family home, $537,650 for two units, $649,900 for three, and $807,700 for four. In Cape May, the limits are $487,500 for a single-family home, $624,100 for a duplex, $754,350 for a triplex and $937,500 for a four-unit building. In Atlantic, the limits are $453,750 for one unit, $580,850 for two, $702,150 for three and $872,600 for four; in Mercer, they are $440,000 for one, $563,250 for two, $680,850 for three and $846,150 for four.