The distress in the jumbo mortgage world has clearly had a negative impact on Maui real estate. In Wailea in the first six months only 1/3 of all sales were financed with conventional mortgages. That is only half that of 2008. But help may be on the way.

JP Morgan and Citigroup are expanding in “jumbo” mortgages used to buy the most expensive homes, helping revive a market that shriveled amid a three-year jump in homeowner defaults. JPMorgan resumed buying new jumbo loans made by other lenders this month, after halting purchases in March, spokesman Tom Kelly said. Borrowers must have checking accounts with the bank, he said. Citigroup is again offering the loans through independent mortgage brokers, spokesman Mark Rodgers said. The two New York-based banks are signaling new interest in a market hobbled since 2007, when record-breaking defaults on home loans caused investors to flee securities backed by mortgages. With the recession sapping demand for new consumer and corporate loans, lenders are competing harder for creditworthy customers, said Harry Davis, banking professor at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.