Getting a conventional loan in Pennsylvania: numbers, limits and rules

A conventional loan in Pennsylvania is priced by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s national rules, then shaped by local facts: a $270,000 median, property tax near 1.49%, title company closings, and a baseline conforming limit of $832,750. Here are the numbers and the rules, in that order.

The Pennsylvania conforming limit and where jumbo starts

A conventional loan is conforming when it fits Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s limit and their guidelines; in Pennsylvania that limit is $832,750 for a one-unit home in 2026. With 20% down, a purchase up to about $1,040,938 stays conforming; with 5% down, up to about $876,579. The state’s $270,000 median leaves ample room, so a typical purchase here is conforming unless the buyer is in a premium neighborhood. Every Pennsylvania county is in the table below; see conforming loan limits and jumbo loans.

County-level loan limits in Pennsylvania for 2026

Loan limits in Pennsylvania run from the $832,750 baseline (66 counties) to $1,209,750 in Pike County; 1 county is above baseline in 2026. Two-, three- and four-unit limits follow the same county pattern.

Source: FHFA, Conforming Loan Limit Values for 2026 (county list, mortgages acquired in calendar year 2026). Limits are for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans; FHA and VA use their own county figures.

Down payment and monthly payment, four ways

Each row is the same $270,000 Pennsylvania home at 6.5% for 30 years — only the down payment changes. PMI is an illustrative market rate for that down payment; property tax is the state’s rough 1.49% effective rate divided by twelve.

For other loan amounts and rates, the payment tables show principal and interest, total interest and the PMI break points.

The PMI timeline on a Pennsylvania purchase

Three dates matter: the month the balance hits 80% of the original price (you ask), 78% (the servicer must act) and the loan’s midpoint (cancellation regardless of value, if current). On Pennsylvania’s median with 5% down at 6.5%, the schedule reaches 80% in about 10 years and 4 months; with 3% down, about 11 years and 1 months; with 10% down, about 7 years and 11 months. Over that time the 5% buyer pays roughly $19,840 in PMI at $160 a month.

Closing costs and taxes in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania closings are conducted by title agents and settlement companies; attorneys are optional and more common in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh than in rural counties. Title insurance premiums are all-inclusive rates filed by the Title Insurance Rating Bureau of Pennsylvania and approved by the Insurance Department, so the same rate applies whichever insurer is used, and it bundles the search and examination. Pennsylvania is a wet-funding state, with funds collected before the settlement agent records the deed and mortgage at the county recorder of deeds.

Pennsylvania does not tax the mortgage; it is recorded for a per-document fee at the county recorder of deeds. The realty transfer tax on the deed is 1 percent to the state plus a local share that is usually another 1 percent — Philadelphia’s combined rate is well above 4 percent — and by custom buyer and seller split it equally. A refinance therefore avoids transfer tax altogether. Pennsylvania’s realty transfer tax is 2% in most of the state (1% state plus 1% local), customarily split equally between buyer and seller; Philadelphia’s local rate is higher, bringing the total there above 4%.

The buyer’s 1% (or 2% in Philadelphia) share of the transfer tax makes Pennsylvania one of the costlier states to close in; total buyer costs commonly run 4% to 5% of the price including title and lender fees.

Pennsylvania rules that touch a conventional loan

Prepayment. Act 6 of 1974, the Loan Interest and Protection Law at 41 P.S. § 405, lets a borrower prepay a residential mortgage loan at any time without penalty when the original principal is at or below the Act’s base figure, which the Department of Banking and Securities indexes every year and which has stood well above $250,000 in recent years — check the current figure. Federal QM rules ban prepayment penalties on most conventional loans anyway; the Loan Estimate says yes or no on page one.

Spouses and title. Pennsylvania is a separate-property, equitable-distribution state; a spouse who is not a borrower is not underwritten.

Homestead. Pennsylvania offers no homestead exemption from creditors: outside bankruptcy the only protections are tenancy by the entirety for married owners and a general $300 exemption under 42 Pa.C.S. § 8123.

The complete state layer — licensing, predatory-lending limits, disclosures, foreclosure — is on mortgage laws in Pennsylvania.

Frequently asked questions

What is the conforming loan limit in Pennsylvania for 2026?

It depends on the county. The 2026 baseline of $832,750 applies in 66 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties; 1 high-cost county carries a higher one-unit limit, up to $1,209,750 in Pike County. The full county table is on this page.

When can I cancel PMI on a conventional loan in Pennsylvania?

Federal law, not Pennsylvania law, sets the dates: request at 80% of original value, automatic at 78%, and in any case at the loan’s midpoint. On the median Pennsylvania price with 5% down at an illustrative 6.5%, that is roughly 10 years and 4 months and 11 years and 3 months respectively if you only make the scheduled payment.

Does Pennsylvania add anything to a conventional loan’s closing costs?

Pennsylvania does not tax the mortgage; it is recorded for a per-document fee at the county recorder of deeds. Pennsylvania’s realty transfer tax is 2% in most of the state (1% state plus 1% local), customarily split equally between buyer and seller; Philadelphia’s local rate is higher, bringing the total there above 4%. The buyer’s 1% (or 2% in Philadelphia) share of the transfer tax makes Pennsylvania one of the costlier states to close in; total buyer costs commonly run 4% to 5% of the price including title and lender fees.

Related: Mortgage reserves: how many months lenders want left after closing, Changing jobs before closing on a house: what survives underwriting, Construction-to-permanent loans: one closing, two closings and the 18-month clock, Getting a mortgage on retirement income: what counts and how it is calculated. First home in Pennsylvania: programs and assistance. Hub: Conventional loan.