The 2026 FHA limit on a one-unit house in Montgomery County is $630,200. The conventional limit in the same county is $832,750. That $202,550 gap is the single most useful fact on this page, because it decides which side of the county FHA comfortably covers and where the down payment has to do the work instead.
The 2026 limits
| Units | Montgomery County | National floor |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $630,200 | $541,287 |
| 2 | $806,750 | $693,050 |
| 3 | $975,200 | $837,700 |
| 4 | $1,211,950 | $1,041,125 |
HUD sets its FHA limits across whole metro areas. Montgomery County sits in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro, and all eleven counties in it carry identical numbers — Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Philadelphia here, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem in New Jersey, New Castle in Delaware and Cecil in Maryland. The metro figure is set off its highest-median county: $630,200 is exactly 115% of the $548,000 median HUD used.
These apply to case numbers assigned on or after 1 January 2026. They were read on 26 August 2026 from HUD’s published CY2026 file and from HUD’s live lookup, and they move most winters.
The label that trips people
HUD flags this metro with limit type H. In FHA’s vocabulary that means one thing only: the limit is above the national floor of $541,287. It is not the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s high-cost designation, which Montgomery County does not have — for conventional purposes the county sits at the plain national baseline, along with every Pennsylvania county except Pike. Both statements are true at the same time, which is why the two agencies’ paperwork reads like it is arguing with itself.
What FHA asks for, and what it adds
FHA’s own minimum down payment is 3.5%. Lenders set their own overlays on top of the program rules, and whether any particular loan is approved is the lender’s call, not FHA’s and certainly not this page’s.
Two mortgage insurance premiums come with it. The upfront premium is 1.75% of the loan, normally financed into the balance instead of paid at settlement. The annual premium in the 2026 schedule is 0.55%, divided by twelve and collected with the payment. Both figures were read 26 August 2026, the annual schedule has more than one line in it, and the lender confirms which line applies before it matters.
Where $630,200 reaches in this county
Far enough for most of Montgomery County, and not far enough for parts of it. The July 2026 median sale reported for the Bryn Mawr area — a ZIP-level figure, not a municipal one, and Bryn Mawr’s name reaches across three townships — was $875,000; FHA cannot reach that unless the down payment brings the loan itself under the limit. The multi-unit ceilings matter more here than people expect — $806,750 on a two-unit building and $975,200 on three, in a county where twins and converted houses are ordinary from Norristown up through Pottstown and Lansdale.
None of that changes the county side of the settlement sheet. The realty transfer tax is 2.000% at every Montgomery County address, whatever the loan program — 1% state, 0.5% municipality, 0.5% school district, customarily split half each, with the agreement of sale deciding who actually pays what.
The monthly number is still mostly the school district
An FHA payment includes taxes, and taxes here are set by a 1996 assessment and a millage rate that changes with the municipality. Four places share the mailing address Ambler PA 19002 and run from 33.775 total mills in Lower Gwynedd Township to 54.4758 in Upper Dublin Township. Almost all of that spread is the school district — Wissahickon at 26.6 mills against Upper Dublin at 41.1418.
To read any of those numbers, convert first. Montgomery County last reassessed in 1996, and the Common Level Ratio factor for documents dated 1 July 2026 through 30 June 2027 is 3.36, so assessed value is roughly market value divided by 3.36. The county’s own example: $556,546 of market value carries a $171,193 assessment and pays $935 in county tax plus $84 to the community college. The district bill on that same house is the larger one, and it is the one that moves when you cross a line on a map.
What to do next
Have the address, the price and roughly what you can put down, and know which township you are standing in. Call the line, or type it into the form and send it along, and a licensed Pennsylvania mortgage lender calls you back to check the FHA math on that specific house. Ask about the multi-unit limits if there is a second kitchen in the listing photos.