There have been major changes in this market lately. First of all let me say that alot of the Jumbo mortgages that are out there were produced by stated income/stated asset products. What that means is that the borrower never had to prove their income or prove that they had any assets. This product was strictly credit score driven. If your credit score was high enough you could be approved for a stated income/stated asset mortgage. The stated income program was really started for business owners that may have a high income but end up writing everything off so they don't have to pay as much to the IRS. As underwriting guidelines loosened during the early 2000's the product then morphed into a stated income program for W-2'd employees too. This was a big mistake for lenders as there is no reason for this program because W-2'd employees usually don't end up writing anything job related on their taxes. During the hay day all it took was for one lender to start offering a new product and most of the other ones jumped right in. Right now there aren't any lenders offering a Stated Income W-2 wage earner mortgage.

But, enough of that, let's get back to the main question, are Jumbo Mortgages still available? Oh yes they are if you can show your income. Well wait a minute, they are still available even if you can't show your income as long as you can show that you have 2 months worth of reserves in the bank. If you don't have any reserves you are so done. You can't do anything at this point.

The loan to values that the banks will accept have also been lowered due to housing prices declining.

My advice to anyone with a Jumbo Mortgage is don't spend up your reserves. If things get tight be sure and do something before it's too late. You don't want to be another casualty in the mortgage meltdown.