Call Us Now Toll Free: 800-871-9326

FHA Loans Now on Facebook Follow FHA Loans Now at Twitter Subscribe FHA Loans Feeds FHA Loans Now at Linkedin FHA Loans Blogger FHA Loans Youtube

Get an immediate FHA loan quote

Find a solution now. Get in touch with a Specialist to learn which type of financing can benefit you best. Don't wait any longer, our form takes less than 2 minutes to complete!


Take the first step by getting in touch with a Specialist.

Federal Housing Commissioner. US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

You are here: Home / Get an FHA Home Loan in Your City / FHA Loans in New Jersey

FHA Loans in New Jersey

About This State and its People, Places, and Industries

New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered on the northeast by New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware. New Jersey lies largely within the sprawling metropolitan areas of New York City and Philadelphia. It is the most densely populated state in the United States.

The area was inhabited by Native Americans for more than 2,800 years, with historical tribes such as the Lenape along the coast. In the early 1600s, the Dutch and the Swedes made the first European settlements. The English later seized control of the region, naming it the Province of New Jersey. It was granted as a colony to Sir George Carteret and John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton. At this time, it was named after the largest of the British Channel Islands, Jersey, where Carteret had been born. New Jersey was the site of several decisive battles during the American Revolutionary War.

In the 19th century, factories in cities such as Paterson and Trenton helped to drive the Industrial Revolution. New Jersey's position at the center of the Northeast megalopolis, between Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., fueled its rapid growth through the suburban boom of the 1950s and beyond. Today, New Jersey has the highest population density and the second highest median income of any state in the United States. Only Maryland has a higher median income.

Residents of New Jersey are most commonly referred to as "New Jerseyans" or "New Jerseyites". The United States Census Bureau, as of July 1, 2009, estimated New Jersey's population at 8,707,739, which represents an increase of 268,301, or 3.2%, since the last census in 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 343,965 people (that is, 933,185 births minus 589,220 deaths) and a decrease due to net migration of 53,930 people out of the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 384,687 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of 438,617 people. As of 2005, there were 1.6 million foreign-born living in the state (accounting for 19.2% of the population).

As of 2006, New Jersey is the eleventh-most populous state in the United States, and the most densely populated, at 1,174 residents per square mile (453 per km2), with most of the population residing in the counties surrounding New York City, Philadelphia, and along the eastern Jersey Shore, while the extreme southern and northwestern counties are relatively less dense overall. It is also the second wealthiest state according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The center of population for New Jersey is located in Middlesex County, in the town of Milltown, just east of the New Jersey Turnpike (see map of location). New Jersey is home to more scientists and engineers per square mile than anywhere else in the world.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that New Jersey's total state product in 2006 was $434 billion. As of January 2010, the state’s unemployment rate is 9.9%.

Its Per Capita personal income in 2008 was $54,699, 2nd in the U.S. and above the national average of $46,588. Its per-capita income is the third highest in the nation with $51,358. The state also has the highest percentage of millionaire households. It is ranked 2nd in the nation by the number of places with per capita incomes above national average with 76.4%. Nine of New Jersey's counties are in the wealthiest 100 of the country.

New Jersey has seven tax brackets for determining income tax rates. The rates range from 1.4 to 8.97%. The standard sales tax rate is 7%, applicable to all retail sales unless specifically exempt by law. Exemptions include most food items for at-home preparation, medicines, clothing (except fur items), footwear, and disposable paper products for use in the home. Approximately 30 New Jersey municipalities are designated as Urban Enterprise Zones and shoppers are charged a 3½% tax rate, half of the rate charged outside the UEZs. Sections of Elizabeth and Jersey City are examples of communities that are subject to the lower sales tax rate. All real property located in the state is subject to property tax unless specifically exempted by statute. New Jersey does not assess an intangible personal property tax, but it does impose an inheritance tax.

New Jersey's economy is centered on the pharmaceutical industry, chemical development, telecommunications, food processing, electric equipment, printing and publishing, and tourism. New Jersey's agricultural outputs are nursery stock, horses, vegetables, fruits and nuts, seafood, and dairy products. New Jersey ranks second among states in blueberry production, third in cranberries and spinach and fourth in bell peppers, peaches and head lettuce.
Although New Jersey is home to many energy-intensive industries, its energy consumption is only 2.7% of the U.S. total, and its carbon dioxide emissions are only 0.8% of the U.S. total. Its comparatively low greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to nuclear power. According to the Energy Information Administration, nuclear power dominates New Jersey’s electricity market, typically supplying more than one-half of State generation. New Jersey has three nuclear power plants, including the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, which came online in 1969 and is the oldest operating nuclear plant in the country.

New Jersey has a strong scientific economy. New Jersey is home to major pharmaceutical firms such as Johnson and Johnson, Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis, Pfizer, Merck, Wyeth, Hoffman-LaRoche, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Schering-Plough. New Jersey is home to major telecommunications firms such as Verizon Wireless, Avaya, Alcatel-Lucent and AT&T Communications. Furthermore, New Jersey draws upon its large and well-educated labor pool which also supports the myriad of industries that exist today.

New Jersey is the ultimate bedroom community since the state is right next to New York City and Philadelphia. Thus, there is a strong service economy in New Jersey serving residents who work in New York City or Philadelphia. Some of these industries include retail sales, education and real estate. Newark Liberty International Airport is ranked seventh among the nation's busiest airports and among the top 20 busiest airports in the world.
Shipping is a strong industry in New Jersey because of the state's strategic location, the Port of New York and New Jersey the busiest on the East Coast. The Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal was the world's first container port and is one of the world's largest container ports. New Jersey also has a strong presence in chemical development, refining and food processing operations.

New Jersey hosts several business headquarters, including twenty-four Fortune 500 companies.[44] Paramus is noted for having one of the highest retail sales per person ratios in the nation. Several New Jersey counties such as Somerset (7), Morris (10), Hunterdon (13), Bergen (21), Monmouth (42) counties are ranked among the highest-income counties in the United States. Four others are also in the top 100.

New Jersey has the highest disparity of any state in the United States between what it gives to the federal government and what it receives. In fiscal year 2005, New Jersey taxpayers gave the federal government $77 billion, while only receiving $55 billion. This difference is higher than any other state and means that for every $1 New Jersey taxpayers send to Washington, the state only receives $0.61 in return. This calculation is applied correctly after making the federal government deficit neutral, as sometimes the federal government spends more than it receives. As of 2005, New Jersey has never been above 48th in rank for per capita federal spending (with a rank of 50th for the majority of that time) since 1982, while being second or third in per capita federal taxes paid to Washington.
New Jersey runs into deficits frequently and has one of the highest tax burdens in the nation. Factors for this include the large federal tax liability which is not adjusted for New Jersey's higher cost of living and Medicaid funding formulas. As shown by the study, incomes tend to be higher in New Jersey, which puts those in higher tax brackets especially vulnerable to the alternative minimum tax.

New Jersey's greatest natural resource is its location, which has made the state a crossroads of commerce. Other commercial advantages include its extensive transportation system, which puts one quarter of all United States consumers within overnight delivery range. Lake and seaside resorts such as Atlantic City have contributed to New Jersey's rank of fifth among the states in revenues from tourism.

Almost half of New Jersey is wooded. The chief tree of the northern forests is the oak. A large part of the southern section is in pine. Jersey oak has been used extensively in shipbuilding.

The mineral resources in New Jersey are small. The state, however, does rank high in smelting and refining minerals from other states. Some mining activity does still take place in the area in and around the Franklin Furnace, which was long a center of zinc production.

New Jersey currently has five teams from major professional sports leagues playing in the state, although the Major League Soccer team and two National Football League teams identify as being from New York.
Two National Football League teams play in New Jersey, the New York Giants and the New York Jets, both in East Rutherford at New Meadowlands Stadium. The National Hockey League's New Jersey Devils and New Jersey Nets play in the Prudential Center located in Newark. Both teams used to play in the Izod Center, but moved out of the older arena in 2007 and 2010, respectively.

The New York Red Bulls of MLS play in the newly-opened Red Bull Arena, a soccer-specific stadium located across the Passaic River from Newark in Harrison.

The Giants and Jets played in Giants Stadium before moving to adjacent New Meadowlands Stadium in 2010 and will host Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014. The Meadowlands and its sports venues were widely considered to be outdated by today's professional sports standards. This led to the Devils move away from the Meadowlands Arena to the new Prudential Center in Newark at the start of the 2007–08 seasons. The Nets also left the Meadowlands for the Prudential Center in 2010 and plan to relocate to Brooklyn, New York as soon as the Barclays Center is completed for them. With both teams leaving the Meadowlands Arena its future is in doubt.

The sports complex is also home to the Meadowlands Racetrack one of three major horse racing tracks in the state. The Meadowlands Racetrack along with Freehold Raceway in Freehold are two of the major harness racing tracks in North America. Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, is also a popular spot for thoroughbred racing in New Jersey and the northeast. It hosted the Breeders' Cup in 2007, and its turf course was renovated in preparation.
New Jersey's collegiate allegiances are more or less split among the three NCAA major Division I programs in the state — the Rutgers University (New Jersey's largest state university) Scarlet Knights, the Seton Hall University (which is the state's largest Roman Catholic university) Pirates, and the Princeton University (the state's Ivy League university) Tigers. Both Rutgers and Seton Hall compete in the Big East Conference, and the rivalry between the two teams has always been an intense one. Rutgers and Princeton have an intense rivalry stemming from the first intercollegiate football game in 1869, though the two schools have not met on the football field since 1980. They continue to play each other annually in all other sports offered by the two universities.

Rutgers, which fields 24 teams from various sports, is nationally known for its excellent football and women's basketball programs. The university is planning a large expansion to the on-campus Rutgers Stadium to accommodate the rising number of fans, and the teams play in Piscataway, which is adjacent to the New Brunswick campus. The university also fields rising basketball and baseball programs. Rutgers' fan base is mostly derived from the western parts of the state and Middlesex County, not to mention its alumni base, which is the largest in the state.
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, also has campuses in Camden and Newark (in addition to its main campus in New Brunswick). The Rutgers-Camden athletic teams are called the Scarlet Raptors. The Rutgers-Newark athletic teams are called the Scarlet Raiders. The Scarlet Raiders and the Scarlet Raptors both compete within NCAA Division III.

Seton Hall, unlike Rutgers, does not field a football team. However, its basketball team has been one of the most storied programs in the Big East, and it plays its home games at the state-of-the-art Prudential Center, located in downtown Newark. The Pirates, while lacking as large an alumni base as the state university, have a large well of support in the predominantly Roman Catholic areas of the northern part of the state and the Jersey Shore.
Fairleigh Dickinson University has two campuses, each with its own sports teams. The teams at the Metropolitan Campus are known as the Knights, and compete in the Northeast Conference and NCAA Division I. The College at Florham (FDU-Florham) teams are known as the Devils and compete in the Middle Atlantic Conferences' Freedom Conference and NCAA Division III. The Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks have fielded the longest continuously running collegiate men's lacrosse program in the country. 2009 marked the 125th season.

In 1978, the New Jersey legislature approved casino gambling in Atlantic City. At that time, Las Vegas was the only mega-casino resort. By 1978, Atlantic City was in decline. It was no longer the seaside resort that it once was. With the institution of casino gambling, Atlantic City has come back as a resort city. There are numerous famous casinos, with its main contributor being Donald Trump. Many lie along the Atlantic City Boardwalk, the longest boardwalk in the world.

Choose Your City >>>


Get an FHA Loan in your city

Call 800-871-9326 Now to Speak our FHA Loan Specialist
Video
Press
FHA Loan Calculator
FHA loan limits

Recent blog posts

  • Sometimes

    Sometimes I wonder how we got into this mess we are in as a country. I guess in some ways I understand it, and then sometimes I don’t. We are all guilty.

    read article

  • FHA Loan Limits

    Someone asked me the other day what the limits were on FHA lending. FHA loan limits are actually specific to every state, and they are broken down by property. In addition, you can certainly seek out what that looks like in your county as well.

    read article

  • FHA Loan Calculator

    With rates being at an all time low, it is amazing how low they really are. Every day, I have families coming to me that are looking to buy a home. There are some that qualify, and there are also a large number of people that don’t qualify.

    read article

View all blog posts

Newsletter library

  • Newsletter Nº3

    FHA Loan Rates. FHA Loan Calculator. FHA Approved Condos. FHA Loan Requirements. Purchase a Home Using FHA. What Are the FHA Guidelines?. Is There Life After a Short Sale?

    Read More

  • Newsletter Nº2

    What Does FHA Mean for Me?. What is an FHA Cash Out Loan?. What Mayer Dallal Wants You to Know About the Mortgage Industry. Who Benefits From a Short Sale?. Can I Buy a Home in 2010?. Looking Out for Short Sale Fraud; why it happens and how it happens. Mortgage Modification Scams and What You Need to Know

    Read More

  • Newsletter Nº1

    Defining an FHA Mortgage. FHA and the Responsibilities of Buying a Home. Do Current Market Conditions Affect Me Buying a Home?. Do I Make Enough Money to Buy a Home. How Does a Short Sale Work?. FHA is the Smart Choice for Borrowers. Is Buying a House Stressful?

    Read More

View all newsletters


Equal housing opportunity

© 2009 FHA Loans Now. All Rights Reserved.