As home prices in Chester County continue to run above state and national averages, more buyers are finding themselves in jumbo loan territory — sometimes without realizing it. Understanding how jumbo loans work, why they are priced differently, and what lenders require is essential for buyers in the upper price ranges of markets like Malvern, Paoli, and West Chester.
A jumbo loan is any conventional mortgage that exceeds the conforming loan limits set annually by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). For 2026, the conforming limit for most Pennsylvania counties is $806,500 for a single-family home. Any loan above that amount is a jumbo loan.
The significance of this threshold is not arbitrary. Conforming loans can be sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on the secondary market, which provides lenders with liquidity and keeps rates competitive. Jumbo loans cannot be sold to the GSEs — lenders must hold them on their own balance sheets or sell them to private investors. That illiquidity is the primary reason jumbo rates are typically higher than conforming rates.
In Chester County, jumbo loan territory begins when your purchase price and down payment math puts your loan above $806,500. On a $900,000 purchase with 10% down ($90,000), your loan is $810,000 — jumbo. On the same purchase with 12% down, you are at $792,000 — just under conforming.
Towns like Malvern, Paoli, and parts of West Chester regularly see transactions in the $800,000–$1.5M range where jumbo financing is the only option. Even in Downingtown and Exton, move-up buyers trading into larger homes increasingly encounter the jumbo threshold.
Jumbo rates are set by individual lenders based on their own appetite for holding loans, their portfolio composition, and their cost of capital — not by the secondary market dynamics that drive conforming rates. This means:
Shopping multiple lenders matters more on jumbo loans than almost any other product. A broker with access to multiple wholesale jumbo programs can surface pricing that a single retail lender cannot match. This is one area where the broker model has a particularly clear advantage over going directly to one bank.
Jumbo lenders are taking on more risk, so they require stronger borrower profiles:
If your loan amount is close to the conforming limit, it may be worth analyzing whether a slightly larger down payment brings you below the jumbo threshold. Conforming rates are typically 0.25–0.5% better than jumbo rates, and conforming underwriting is less stringent.
On a $850,000 purchase, the difference between a $810,000 jumbo loan and a $795,000 conforming loan is roughly $55,000 in additional down payment — a significant cash commitment. But the rate differential and reserve requirements may make conforming the better financial choice if the cash is available. This is the kind of scenario-specific analysis a broker can model for you quickly.
Not all brokers have strong jumbo lender relationships. Confirm that your broker works with wholesale lenders who offer competitive jumbo programs at your loan size and that they have closed jumbo loans in your price range recently.
Zurn Mortgages has access to jumbo programs through our wholesale lender relationships. A free quote for your specific loan amount and down payment scenario gives you a real number to evaluate — and something concrete to put alongside any bank offers you receive. See our full jumbo loan page for more detail on available programs.
Disclosure: Alexander Zurn is a licensed mortgage broker in Pennsylvania (NMLS #1753707, Company NMLS #2462161). This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute a commitment to lend. All loans subject to credit approval. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Wholesale jumbo rates across multiple lenders. No credit pull required for an initial quote.