Jumbo Loans

A jumbo loan is any mortgage above the conforming loan limit for your county. Because they’re too large to be sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, jumbo loans are underwritten to the lender’s (or portfolio investor’s) own guidelines — which means more variation between lenders.

For 2026, the one-unit baseline is $832,750, with higher county limits up to $1,249,125 and different limits in certain statutory special areas. We’ll check the county and property-unit limit.

Jumbo qualifying criteria can vary materially from one program to another. Some programs use Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac automated underwriting findings through DU or LPA, while others are manually underwritten under proprietary guidelines. Maximum debt-to-income ratios also vary by program. Some current jumbo programs cap DTI around 43%, while others permit higher ratios, including into the upper-40% range or around 50% when the rest of the file meets the program’s requirements.

In practice, jumbo underwriting usually puts particular emphasis on your credit history, documented income, debt-to-income ratio, down payment or equity, and the liquid assets you will still have after closing. The property and loan size matter too, and appraisal and reserve requirements can change as the loan gets larger.

DTI limits and pricing both depend on the particular program. A lower permitted DTI does not by itself establish that the program offers better pricing.

A scenario that misses one lender’s jumbo matrix can still fit another lender’s program, so this is one of the areas where comparing programs can matter just as much as comparing rates.

Jumbo pricing can vary more than borrowers expect because different lenders and investors can have different appetites for the same risk. The same borrower can therefore receive meaningfully different pricing depending on factors such as loan amount, loan-to-value, credit profile, occupancy, property type, fixed versus adjustable rate, and the lender’s particular jumbo program.

The important part is to compare the same structure. For a hypothetical comparison, a 6.25% rate with two points is not the same offer as 6.50% with no points. The same goes for lender credits, lock period, ARM versus fixed, or different cash-to-close requirements.

Some banks also offer relationship pricing, where moving or maintaining qualifying assets with that institution can produce a rate discount or closing-cost benefit. That can be legitimate, but it should be evaluated as part of the entire financial relationship rather than treated as a universally available jumbo feature.

A useful jumbo comparison therefore uses the same loan amount, structure, lock assumptions and points or credits, then considers what each program requires to actually receive that pricing.