You should consider a jumbo mortgage if you’re buying an expensive home and need a loan amount that exceeds the conforming loan limits in your area.
Shopping for the best mortgage rates can save you even more money on a larger loan amount. Compare mortgage offers for the most competitive jumbo loan rates today.
Historically, jumbo rates have been higher than conforming conventional mortgage rates. However, during periods of strong economic and housing growth, investors tend to feel more confident in bonds secured by jumbo loans. This can drive down jumbo rates, making them the more affordable option.
A conventional loan is any loan that isn’t backed or insured by a government agency.
A jumbo loan is a type of conventional loan that exceeds conforming loan limits, and is typically much harder to qualify for than conforming conventional loans.
Learn more with our guide to jumbo versus conventional loans.
Lenders typically set stricter requirements for jumbo loans, which may include:
Jumbo loans don’t adhere to rules set by a government agency, so some lenders offer niche jumbo programs like:
The requirements for these programs vary by lender. Just be aware that these loans often carry higher interest rates to offset the risk of lending to borrowers with unusual circumstances.
You can get the best jumbo loan rates by following these seven steps:
Watch out for prepayment penaltiesIf you see a notably low jumbo mortgage rate offer, beware: It may come with a penalty if you pay off the loan early. Ask your loan officer if your quoted rate includes a prepayment penalty.
| Lender | LendingTree rating and “best of” category | Min. jumbo loan credit score | Min. jumbo loan down payment | Max. jumbo loan amount | Lender review |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  Overall jumbo lender | Not disclosed | 10% | Not disclosed | Read our review |
 | Low-credit jumbo loans | 620 | No minimum with full entitlement | $2 million | Read our review |
 | High loan amounts | Not disclosed | 15% | $9.5 million | Read our review |
 |  Interest-only jumbo ARMs | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | $3 million | Read our review |
Learn more about how we created our list of the best jumbo loan lenders.
| LendingTree rating: | Read Review |
| Minimum credit score (jumbo loans): | Not disclosed |
| Minimum down payment (jumbo loans): | 10% |
| Maximum jumbo loan amount: | $4 million |
| Additional loan products: | Conventional |
Ally is an online-only bank licensed to issue jumbo loans in 46 states. Ally’s website provides generous rate and product information as well as a digital loan application process. The lender also offers a quick online mortgage preapproval — as quick as 15 minutes, according to Ally.Ally’s jumbo loan rates are easy to find on the bank’s website and are more detailed than most. Ally provides rate quotes for purchase and refinance loans that span across several fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) jumbo products. You can also instantly customize those rates by location, credit score and property type, among other factors. And with a maximum loan amount of $4 million, Ally offers generous room for jumbo shoppers to expand beyond conforming loan limits.
| LendingTree rating: | Read Review |
| Minimum credit score (jumbo loans): | 620 |
| Minimum down payment (jumbo loans): | Varies by VA loan entitlement |
| Maximum jumbo loan amount: | $2 million |
| Additional loan products: | Conventional, FHA, VA |
Veterans United specializes in purchase and refinance loans for military borrowers. Their minimum 620 credit score for a jumbo loan was the lowest among the jumbo lenders we surveyed, and came in at an impressive 60 points lower than the average score required across those lenders. However, you must have a qualifying military service history to qualify.
| LendingTree rating: | Read Review |
| Minimum credit score (jumbo loans): | Not disclosed |
| Minimum down payment (jumbo loans): | 15% |
| Maximum jumbo loan amount: | $9.5 million |
| Additional loan products: | Conventional, VA, FHA |
Chase is the largest bank in the country and has a wide range of jumbo offerings. Loan options include both fixed-rate and adjustable-rate loans, as well as an interest-only ARM. However, where Chase truly shines is with its jumbo loan limit of $9.5 million — by far the highest of the lenders we evaluated. If you’re an existing Chase banking customer, you may also be eligible to receive a 0.50% rate discount on a jumbo loan.
| LendingTree rating: | Read Review |
| Minimum credit score (jumbo loans): | Not disclosed |
| Minimum down payment (jumbo loans): | Not disclosed |
| Maximum jumbo loan amount: | $3 million |
| Additional loan products: | Conventional, FHA, VA, USDA |
Sebonic Financial is a small direct mortgage lender based in Charlotte, N.C. Sebonic is one of a handful of lenders that offer interest-only ARMs, and their proprietary digital mortgage lending platform allows them to process loans quickly. They also make it easy to apply, sign and submityour documents online.
Jumbo loans can be very similar to traditional 30-year fixed-rate mortgages — just bigger. However, because jumbo loan lenders can set their own terms, they can offer more unique loan options.
Many jumbo lenders offer adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) options with a lower initial rate that usually lasts for three, five, seven or 10 years. After the initial fixed-rate period ends, ARM rates change (or “adjust”) based on your loan terms.
Some jumbo lenders offer an interest-only option for jumbo loans. You’ll start off with low payments, as you’re only paying interest charges without touching your principal balance. But once the interest-only period ends, you’ll pay the remaining balance in installments for the remaining loan term. This could be a shock to your budget if you don’t pay down your loan balance before the bigger payments begin.
Military borrowers with full VA loan entitlement can qualify for a loan amount that exceeds conforming loan limits. VA jumbo loans are still subject to the VA’s underwriting guidelines, however.
What about FHA jumbo loans?Some people may refer to FHA loans that exceed FHA loan limits as “FHA jumbo loans.” However, they aren’t actually jumbo loans; they’re just loans that have a higher loan limit because they’re located in a high-cost area. FHA loans can’t exceed the loan limit set for their county.
Using a piggyback loan means taking out two loans at the same time, both secured by the home you’re purchasing. To avoid a jumbo loan, you can take out a first mortgage up to the local conforming loan limit, and then add (“piggyback”) a second mortgage for the additional amount you need to borrow. It’s common to choose a home equity loan or HELOC for the second mortgage.
Advantage: You can avoid the higher interest rates and larger minimum down payment associated with a jumbo loan.
Disadvantage: Having more than one mortgage at a time — also known as utilizing “subordinate financing” — can trigger higher interest rates or extra fees. You’ll have to do the math on both scenarios to know which is right for you.
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Putting profits from a home sale toward a big down payment is smart, but it also means you’ll have to wait for your current home to sell before buying a new one. However, if you use a bridge loan, you can access equity in your current home while it’s still on the market and pay off the bridge loan once it sells.
Advantage: The cash from a bridge loan can beef up your down payment, keeping the balance on your new home at or below conforming loan limits.
Disadvantage: You’ll have to pay closing costs twice — once on the bridge loan and again on your new mortgage.
You should consider a jumbo mortgage if you’re buying an expensive home and need a loan amount that exceeds the conforming loan limits in your area.
The amount of money that makes a loan “jumbo” varies depending on where you’re buying a home. In most U.S. counties, a loan amount above $726,200 for a single-unit home requires a jumbo loan. In high-cost areas, that amount rises to $1,089,300.
Yes. Jumbo refinance loans work much like conforming conventional refinances, but they set stricter limits for income, credit history and credit scores. One tip: Conforming loan limits change every year, and often go up. If they rise high enough to meet your needs, you may be able to avoid the tougher jumbo approval standards by refinancing into a conventional loan.
A jumbo loan allows you to borrow more money than conventional loan programs allow. Even if you have the cash for a home, a jumbo loan can help keep some of your cash in the bank and potentially increase your mortgage interest tax write-off. One caveat: The mortgage interest deduction is capped at $750,000 for individuals but drops to $375,000 per spouse for married couples filing taxes separately.
Most jumbo loans are “manually underwritten.” A human underwriter does most of the review, instead of the automated underwriting systems that are typically used for conforming loans. This makes the process a little bit slower, but also allows for borrowers to qualify even if they have unusual or complicated circumstances that an automated system would flag.
To determine the best jumbo loan lenders, we reviewed data collected from 35 lender reviews completed by the LendingTree editorial staff for 2023.
Each lender review gives a rating between zero and five stars based on several features including digital application processes, available loan products and the accessibility of product and lending information. To evaluate jumbo-specific factors, we awarded extra points to lenders that publish jumbo mortgage rates online and offer both fixed- and adjustable-rate jumbo loans.
Our editorial team brought together all of the data about lenders in our reviews, as well as the scores awarded for jumbo-specific characteristics, to find the lenders with a product mix, information base and guidelines that best serve the needs of jumbo loan borrowers. To be considered for our “best overall” pick, lenders must be licensed to issue mortgages in at least 35 states.