Jumbo loans (loans above conforming loan limit of $417,000 in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties) increased by 31% year-over-year in 2011 to 3,782 jumbo loans originated in South Florida.  This accounted for nearly half of the overall home loan growth according to Compliance Technologies’ database of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) filings. 

Jumbo Loans More Appealing

Although jumbo loans aren’t close to the peak numbers of 2005, they have recovered faster than conforming loans.  Judith Baker, the incoming president of the Broward Council of the Miami Association of Realtors and the manager of two Prudential Florida Realty offices in Fort Lauderdale, believes that this is because there are fewer defaults in jumbo loans and they are more profitable for banks.  Additionally, jumbo loans are increasingly attractive to homeowners and investors because the difference between conforming and jumbo loan rates is shrinking. 

Below are the largest jumbo home mortgage lenders in South Florida

With the year- over- year median sales price in Miami for luxury properties (the top 10% of all sales) rising in fourth quarter of 2012 by 32.6 % for condominiums and 30.1% for single-family homes, the forecast for jumbo loans in 2013 looks very promising.  Guy Cecala, the publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance, believes that the national jumbo market may fare better than the overall mortgage market in 2013.  Only time will tell.