Today’s Draper Mortgage Rates
Mortgage rates as of 8/28/2026
Mortgage rates as of 8/28/2026
Draper sits at Point of the Mountain, and the mortgage questions here are not the ones we hear elsewhere on the Wasatch Front. In Herriman the conversation is down payment assistance and FHA limits. In Draper it is whether the loan crosses the conforming ceiling, and whether an underwriter will count what you earn.
That second problem is the real one. Tech compensation is not a salary. It is a base, plus restricted stock units, plus a bonus, plus sometimes options. Underwriting was built around a two-year W-2 history with a stable number on it, so what makes a Point of the Mountain package attractive is what complicates the file.
Draper is one of a small number of Utah cities lying in two counties. Most of it, including the established neighborhoods and the east bench, is in Salt Lake County; a portion on the south end sits in Utah County. Buyers rarely learn this until it surfaces on a tax estimate or title commitment.
The FHA limit. HUD sets FHA limits by metro area. The Salt Lake City MSA limit for 2026 is $637,100 on a one-unit property; the Provo-Orem MSA, covering Utah County, is $601,450, a $35,650 difference between addresses a few minutes apart. It rarely matters at the top of the Draper market, but it matters to a buyer stretching into a townhome with FHA.
The property tax rate. Salt Lake County’s 2025 average total rate was 1.0504%; Utah County’s was 0.9621%. See the property tax section below.
The conforming limit does not change. Both counties use the $832,750 baseline, as do twenty-five of Utah’s twenty-nine counties: only Summit and Wasatch ($1,150,000), Wayne ($997,050) and Grand ($839,500) sit above it. The jumbo threshold is identical on both sides of town.
2026 conforming limits from FHFA; 2026 FHA forward limits from HUD Mortgagee Letter 2025-23, effective for case numbers assigned on or after January 1, 2026.
A loan is a jumbo when the loan amount exceeds $832,750 on a one-unit property, the loan amount, not the purchase price. A $900,000 purchase with 20% down is a $720,000 loan and stays conforming; the same purchase with 5% down is an $855,000 loan and is a jumbo. The identical house can be either file, which is why the down payment and the program have to be decided together.
There is a second structure worth knowing. Instead of one jumbo you can sometimes take a conforming first at $832,750 with a second mortgage or HELOC behind it. Whether that beats a single jumbo depends on the pricing of both pieces the day you lock. We run the comparison whenever a file lands within about $150,000 of the ceiling.
The most expensive misunderstanding we see in Draper is a buyer pre-approved for a conforming loan who goes over the limit and assumes the approval scales up. It does not. Conforming loans run through agency guidelines and an automated engine; jumbo loans are underwritten to whichever investor or portfolio lender buys the loan, often by a human from the first page.
This surprises people most. A jumbo lender wants a set number of months of PITI, principal, interest, taxes and insurance, still in your accounts after closing, on top of the down payment and closing costs. The requirement varies by lender, loan size and occupancy, and climbs as the loan grows. A borrower who put every dollar into the down payment can come up short because the reserves are gone.
Conforming automated underwriting will sometimes approve debt-to-income ratios well into the forties. Jumbo guidelines are tighter; the compensating factors that earn an exception are large reserves, long employment history and a high credit score. If DTI is the constraint, the fix is usually more down payment or retiring an auto loan. Low-down-payment jumbo programs exist, but the lender pool shrinks as the down payment falls.
Jumbo files are full-documentation files: complete tax returns rather than transcripts alone, verification of employment close to closing, and detailed sourcing of every large deposit. Some lenders require a second appraisal above certain loan amounts, which adds cost and time, one of the few things that pushes a three-week closing to four.
If there is any chance your purchase lands above $832,750, get pre-approved on jumbo guidelines from the start so the letter you hand a listing agent holds up. Call 801-576-9336.
If a meaningful share of your pay arrives as stock, the question is not whether it is real money. It is whether an underwriter can document it as stable, ongoing income. This is the defining Draper underwriting problem.
Vested RSUs already delivered to you are income received, and can typically be averaged into qualifying income if you show a history of receipt, commonly two years, sometimes one year with strong compensating factors. Unvested RSUs are not income: an unvested grant is a promise, not a payment, though vested-but-unsold shares may count as an asset.
The other half of the test is evidence of continuance, the grant agreements and the vesting calendar going forward. A borrower with two years of history and nothing left on the schedule is weaker than one with four more years of scheduled vests.
How averaging works. The usual approach is to value the shares that actually vested and average them, typically over twenty-four months. Because share prices move, most lenders use a conservative valuation rather than the peak. Two borrowers with identical grants can qualify for different amounts depending on the lender’s convention.
Have ready: two years of W-2s, recent pay stubs, equity portal statements showing vest dates and share counts, the grant agreements, and any sell-to-cover confirmations.
Options are harder than RSUs, and honesty beats optimism. Exercise income needs the same history and continuance evidence, but because exercising is discretionary, underwriters view it more skeptically than RSUs vesting on a fixed calendar. Sporadic exercises do not establish a pattern, and options in a private company with no liquidity event are invisible to a conventional underwrite.
Bonus income follows the same logic: two years of receipt documented on W-2s and pay stubs, averaged, with employer verification that it will continue. A quarterly bonus with eight consecutive payments builds a cleaner record than an annual bonus with two. If your bonus declined year over year, most guidelines require the lower, more recent figure.
Agency guidelines set a floor, but lenders layer their own overlays on top, and RSU treatment is one of the most inconsistent areas in the business. One lender demands two full years of vesting history; another accepts twelve months with three years of scheduled vests remaining. One will not use equity income at all if you changed employers in the past year; another will, if the new grant is documented.
Apply at a single bank and you get that bank’s overlay, with no visibility into whether it is generous or restrictive. We read the compensation structure first and route the file to a lender whose written policy fits it. That is why the same borrower with the same documents is approved in one place and declined in another.
Point of the Mountain runs on enterprise sales as much as on engineering. The norm for commission is a two-year history documented with W-2s and pay stubs and averaged over that period. Where commission is a large share of pay, expect the lender to want tax returns too, unreimbursed business expenses claimed there reduce usable income.
A shorter history is not automatically fatal. Some lenders work with twelve months where the borrower has long tenure in the same field, moved to a comparable role, and has strong reserves and credit, or shifted from a salaried role into a commission-heavy one at the same company. It is an overlay question, and the answer differs by lender.
The two-year norm. Guidelines want two years of personal and, where applicable, business tax returns. Qualifying income is not revenue and not your distributions. It is calculated from the returns and averaged across two years, with a declining trend often forcing use of the lower year.
W-2 wages versus S-corp distributions. If you own an S corporation and pay yourself a W-2 salary, that salary is straightforward wage income. Distributions are separate: underwriters read the K-1 and ask whether the business can support them, often requiring business returns and a year-to-date profit and loss statement. Owners who keep their W-2 salary low for tax reasons routinely find that strategy is what limits their loan amount.
Add-backs. Non-cash and non-recurring items deducted on your returns can be added back to qualifying income, depreciation and amortization are the classic examples, along with documented one-time expenses. A thin-looking file often qualifies once the add-backs are worked.
One-year self-employed programs. Two years is the norm, not an absolute. Some lenders approve a single year of returns where the business is established, income is stable or rising, and the borrower has prior experience in the same field, common for someone who left a W-2 tech role to consult.
Some borrowers earn well and cannot document it on a tax return: a founder reinvesting aggressively, a consultant with heavy deductions, an early employee with a large brokerage balance and modest wages. All are common Draper profiles poorly served by agency underwriting.
Bank statement loans qualify you on deposits instead of returns. The lender reviews twelve or twenty-four months of statements, applies an expense factor to business accounts, and derives a monthly income. Expect a larger down payment, a higher rate, and real scrutiny of transfers, moving the same money between your own accounts and counting it twice will blow up the analysis.
Asset-depletion loans derive qualifying income from liquid assets by dividing an eligible balance over a set number of months. For a borrower whose wealth sits in a brokerage account rather than a paycheck, that is often the difference between qualifying and not.
These are non-QM programs, outside the qualified mortgage box by design. They cost more than agency financing and should be a considered choice, not a default. Our alternative loan programs page covers the set, and for a rental, low-doc investment financing works on the property’s cash flow.
A steady share of Draper buyers are relocating for a job they have accepted but not started. It is a well-established path; the details are just unforgiving.
Offer letter qualification. Most lenders let you qualify on a job you have not begun, subject to conditions: a fully executed, non-contingent offer letter, a start date within a defined window after closing, and reserves to cover payments until the first paycheck. A fixed base salary is straightforward; a package weighted toward bonus or equity you have never received is much harder.
Timing. The cleanest sequence is to close before you start, on the offer letter, then begin work; next cleanest is to close after your first pay stub. The awkward middle, under contract, started, no stub yet, is workable but generates conditions. Tell us your start date up front.
Two more issues. A mortgage on an unsold home in your prior state counts against your debt-to-income unless it is rented with a documented lease and the program allows the offset. And how relocation assistance is structured, lump sum, reimbursement, or paid directly, affects whether it counts as funds for closing.
At Draper price points the down payment is rarely sitting in one checking account, and sourcing it is often the most labor-intensive part of the file. Every dollar going to closing must be traceable to a documented source.
Selling stock. Acceptable and common here. The underwriter needs the chain: a brokerage statement showing the shares, the trade confirmation, and the deposit of proceeds with amounts that match. If your RSUs auto-sell at vest, keep the confirmations. An undocumented large deposit gets excluded from your funds, leaving you short at closing even though the money is there.
Gift funds. Gifts from acceptable donors are allowed on most programs including many jumbo programs, though jumbo lenders may require a minimum portion from your own funds. You will need a signed gift letter stating no repayment is expected, evidence of the transfer, and often proof of the donor’s ability to give. Do not take cash, and do not let the donor wire straight to escrow without telling us.
401(k) loans. Borrowing against your own retirement account is an acceptable source. The lender wants the loan terms and evidence of receipt, and the repayment may count in your debt-to-income. Run that impact before you initiate it.
Why moving money before application creates work. Lenders review two months of statements on every account you use. Any deposit that is not obviously payroll must be sourced, and every transfer traced from origin to destination, which means producing statements for the sending account too. Consolidating five accounts into one the week before you apply feels tidy and triples the paperwork. Get the money where it belongs, then let it sit for two statement cycles before you start a free loan inquiry.
Utah exempts 45% of a primary residence’s fair market value, so you are taxed on 55%, covering the dwelling plus up to one acre. Because Draper straddles a county line, two average rates apply.
| County | 2025 avg total rate | Annual tax on a $900,000 primary residence | Monthly escrow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salt Lake (most of Draper) | 1.0504% | ≈$5,199 | ≈$433 |
| Utah (south portion of Draper) | 0.9621% | ≈$4,762 | ≈$397 |
| Statewide average | 0.9025% | ≈$4,467 | ≈$372 |
Calculated on 55% of market value using 2025 county average total rates from the Utah State Tax Commission. Individual tax areas within a county vary.
The difference on an identical $900,000 home is roughly $36 a month, modest, but it lands inside the debt-to-income calculation jumbo underwriting scrutinizes closely. When we pre-approve you we pull the actual tax area for the address, not a county average.
One more item that catches Draper buyers: if the home was a second home, a short-term rental, or builder-held new construction, the listed tax figure may reflect an unexempted assessment, and on a new build it may be land only. The seller’s number is not automatically yours.
Not every Draper buyer is financing a jumbo. On the Salt Lake County side, Utah Housing Corporation’s FirstHome program caps income at $126,100 for a one-to-two-person household and $145,000 for three or more, with a maximum purchase price of $666,600. The Utah County portion falls in the Juab/Utah tier: $143,000, $166,800, and a $769,100 cap. Same city, two sets of limits.
Three Utah Housing programs are active: FirstHome (660 minimum score, first-time buyers, with exceptions for single parents and veterans), FHA/VA (620 minimum, open to repeat buyers, $165,200 income cap statewide), and Freddie Mac HFA Advantage (680 minimum, reduced mortgage insurance). Assistance is a 30-year fixed second mortgage: traditional, up to 6% of the first capped at $27,500 at your first-mortgage rate plus one percent with an 8% cap; or deferred, up to 3.5%, same cap, at 3.5% deferred simple interest with no monthly payment. HomeAgain, NoMI and Score are currently listed as suspended.
There is no USDA financing in Draper. The city is inside the urbanized area on both sides. Zero down here means a VA loan, not USDA.
We finance homes throughout Draper: SunCrest, Draper Heights, Corner Canyon, Steeplechase, Hidden Valley, South Mountain, Willow Creek, Draper Point, Traverse Ridge, Eastridge, Bellevue, the Draper Historic District, and the Galena and Draper Park areas.
The loan questions shift by neighborhood. SunCrest and Traverse Ridge bring jumbo loan amounts and occasionally appraisal challenges where a distinctive home has a thin comparable set. Corner Canyon and South Mountain regularly cross the conforming ceiling, while Hidden Valley, Willow Creek and the older streets near Draper Park include price points where conforming and even FHA financing work. Townhome projects bring HOA and project-review questions.
Whether the right answer is a 30-year fixed, an adjustable-rate loan for a buyer who expects to move or refinance inside the fixed period, or a jumbo with a second behind it, the structure depends on the file.
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When the loan amount exceeds $832,750 on a one-unit property, the 2026 baseline conforming limit, which applies on both the Salt Lake County and Utah County sides of Draper. It is the loan amount, not the purchase price: a $900,000 purchase with 20% down stays conforming, while the same purchase with 5% down is a jumbo.
No, and this is the most expensive assumption Draper buyers make. Conforming loans run through agency guidelines and an automated engine. Jumbo loans are underwritten to an individual investor’s guidelines, usually by a human, with tighter debt-to-income limits, larger down payment expectations, full documentation, and required reserves after closing.
Usually yes, if the RSUs have vested and you can document a history of receiving them, commonly two years, sometimes one, plus evidence the income will continue, normally the grant agreements and remaining vesting schedule. Unvested grants are not income. Guidelines vary widely: one lender’s RSU policy can approve a file another declines.
It varies by lender, loan size, occupancy and the strength of the file, and increases as the loan gets larger. Reserves are months of PITI, principal, interest, taxes and insurance, remaining in your accounts after closing, on top of down payment and closing costs.
Start with a proper self-employed calculation: add-backs for depreciation, amortization and documented one-time expenses often raise qualifying income more than people expect. Two years of returns is the norm, but one-year programs exist for established businesses. Beyond that, bank statement loans qualify you on twelve or twenty-four months of deposits, and asset-depletion loans derive income from liquid assets.
Often yes. Most lenders allow qualification on a fully executed, non-contingent offer letter with a start date within a defined window after closing, plus reserves to cover payments until your first paycheck. It works best when the income is a fixed base salary; a package weighted toward bonus or equity you have never received is much harder.
Both. Most of Draper is in Salt Lake County, but a portion sits in Utah County, and buyers are usually unaware of the boundary. The 2026 FHA limit is $637,100 in the Salt Lake City metro and $601,450 in the Provo-Orem metro, and the 2025 average tax rate is 1.0504% versus 0.9621%.
We can close in three weeks or less on a clean file, with no processing or junk fees and total fees about 25% below many competitors. What extends a Draper closing is predictable: sourcing down payment funds that moved shortly before application, collecting equity compensation documentation, and a second appraisal on a large jumbo.
At Axent Funding we take pride in our great customer service. Our staff is here for you, so don’t hesitate to contact us if you have a question, a problem, or a suggestion.
We are a Utah mortgage broker offering conventional, FHA, Utah Housing / no down payment, VA, jumbo and home equity lines, plus niche products for condotel, one-time close construction, home remodel, reverse mortgage and debt consolidation. See Loan Types for the full list.
We walk you through the whole mortgage process and make sure your transaction closes smoothly. We can close a loan in 3 weeks or less.
Every loan program we offer, described side by side, so you can see which one fits.
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Loan limits, Utah Housing caps, property tax and USDA coverage, county by county.
Axent Funding is licensed statewide and closes loans in every Utah county. We publish in-depth local guides for the markets we work in most: loan limits, Utah Housing eligibility, property tax and USDA coverage all change at the county line.