On August 3, 2026, the bar for a condo mortgage in Deerfield Beach rose. For applications dated on or after that day, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac retired the lighter review that many established condo projects used to get through. Most of those buildings now go through a Full Review. The lender looks at the association's budget, reserves, insurance and financial condition along with the buyer's file.
In a city where condos and townhouses outsold single-family homes in Q3 2026, the change matters a lot. A financed buyer of a Deerfield Beach condo is now partly underwriting the building. Two units with the same asking price can be very different purchases depending on the association behind them.
The Rule That Changed on August 3
Fannie Mae announced the change in Lender Letter LL-2026-03, dated March 18, 2026. It retires the Limited Review process and sends established projects to Full Review or, where eligible, a Waiver of Project Review. Freddie Mac retired its own Streamlined Review on the same timeline in Bulletin 2026-C.
The Fannie Mae letter includes one sentence aimed directly at Florida:
"This change effectively retires the remaining geographic restrictions that apply to the state of Florida."
Florida condo projects now go through the same review as projects in every other state. Florida Realtors summarized it in May: Full Review "requires lenders to take a closer look at the condo project itself, not just the buyer." The way out is a waiver, which Fannie Mae expanded to new and established projects with 10 or fewer units.
The same letter tightened reserve studies for applications dated on or after August 3. When a lender relies on a reserve study, it must confirm that the budget carries the study's highest recommended reserve allocation. The baseline funding method, which lets the reserve balance approach but never drop below zero, is no longer accepted.
A City Where Most Condo Buyers Already Skip the Lender
Deerfield Beach's Q3 2026 numbers explain why the change shows up in prices and not only in paperwork. These figures come from the Florida Realtors municipal reports released October 16, 2026, covering July through September.
| Q3 2026 | Deerfield Beach townhouses and condos | Deerfield Beach single-family | Broward townhouses and condos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Closed sales | 200 | 124 | 2,752 |
| Paid in cash | 126, about 63% | 26, about 21% | 1,435, about 52% |
| Median sale price | $179,950 | $540,000 | $250,000 |
| Median time to contract | 76 days | 33 days | 77 days |
| Pct. of original list price received | 91.3% | 95.7% | 92.5% |
| Months of supply | 8.5 | 3.8 | 10.2 |
Nearly two out of three Deerfield Beach condo and townhouse closings in Q3 2026 were cash. That share is about 11 points above the Broward condo average and three times the city's own single-family rate. The Deerfield condo market already runs mostly without lenders.
The cash share also limits who can bid. Anyone who needs a mortgage is shopping a smaller list than the listing count suggests, because only some buildings can pass review. A seller whose association can't pass is selling mostly to cash buyers. Lenders aren't the only constraint. In its October 16 market release, MIAMI REALTORS® + RWorld cited U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development figures showing that only 21 of the 2,397 condo buildings in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties are approved for FHA loans.
The Q3 data covers July through September, so it mostly comes from before the August 3 cutoff. Any effect of the new review process will show up in the quarters after this one.
Century Village East Is 253 Separate Loan Decisions
Deerfield Beach's largest condo community shows why a citywide median is a poor guide here. According to COOCVE, the volunteer nonprofit that supports the community's boards, Century Village East is made up of 253 associations and 8,508 owners. COOCVE describes each association as fully independent.
Under Full Review, a lender looks at the specific project behind the unit: its budget, its reserves and its insurance. Inside one gated community, that can mean 253 different answers. The 10-unit waiver doesn't help much at this scale. At an average of roughly 34 owners per association, a typical Century Village East association is well above that line.
The fees that look alike across the community are the shared ones. The CVE Reporter reported that starting January 1, 2026, the CenClub recreation coupon rose $10 to $120 a month and the CVE Master Management coupon rose $13 to $185. Together they total $305 a month. Each building's own fee comes on top of that, and the paper noted that "the amount of monthly building fees varies from building to building." That third fee, and the budget behind it, is where buildings differ and where a lender's review spends its time.
Insurance Is the Line Item Lenders Read First
Fannie Mae's Condo Status Finder data showed 3.6% of projects as ineligible as of August 2025. The top two reasons were insufficient master insurance and critical repairs, including failure to meet state or local inspection requirements. Fannie Mae also states that loans on units in projects marked "Unavailable" are ineligible no matter which review type applies. Those eligibility decisions are not published building by building.
Century Village East owners have been working on the insurance line. In May 2026, The CVE Reporter covered the newly formed CVE Advocacy Club. The group pointed to one high-rise building whose annual insurance cost rose from $85,000 in 2023 to $120,000 in 2026, while a comparable quote came in under $60,000. It estimated possible savings of up to 50% for high-rises and about 40% for garden-style complexes if associations bought coverage together through pre-negotiated options with A-rated carriers. Participation is voluntary. In June, the paper reported one building whose insurance cost fell from $95,000 to $53,000 through the program.
For a buyer, a building's insurance renewal affects more than the monthly fee. Coverage is one of the first things a Full Review checks, and premiums also feed into the budget lenders now read line by line.
Fewer Listings, Slower Sales
Deerfield Beach condo and townhouse supply is shrinking. In Q3 2026, new listings fell 16.1% year over year to 296, and active inventory fell 17.7% to 591. Months of supply dropped to 8.5 from about 11 a year earlier. The median sale price slipped 1.9% to $179,950. Sellers received 91.3% of original list price, up 2.7% from a year earlier.
Financing costs rose this fall. MIAMI REALTORS® + RWorld reported mortgage rates at 7.46% as of October 13, 2026, up nearly 0.6 percentage points since September 1. Cash buyers aren't affected by that rate, and they don't need a building to pass a project review. Financed buyers face both. For a seller, a clean association file is one of the few things that keeps those buyers in play.
Two Dates Still Ahead
The rules keep changing after August:
- December 31, 2026. Under the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation's condo inspection guidance, unit-owner-controlled associations that existed by July 1, 2022 generally had to complete a structural integrity reserve study by December 31, 2025. An association pairing its SIRS with a milestone inspection due by December 31, 2026 may complete both by that date.
- January 4, 2027. For Full Review loan applications dated on or after this date, Fannie Mae's minimum replacement-reserve allocation rises from 10% to 15% of the annual budgeted assessment income. Freddie Mac made the same increase.
A buyer who goes under contract in November could have a loan application dated after January 4. The budget that passed review this fall may be checked against a higher minimum by then.
The Paperwork Moves to the Front
Florida Realtors advised flagging "condo documents, budgets, insurance coverage and project eligibility early," and noted that sellers and associations "may need clear documentation to avoid financing delays." In practice, for a financed Deerfield Beach condo deal, the association items a Full Review looks at include:
- The current annual budget and the line for replacement reserves
- The most recent reserve study and its recommended allocation
- Master insurance coverage, including property and wind
- The status of any milestone inspection or SIRS required under state law
- The association's overall financial condition
This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm how these rules apply to your own purchase or sale with your lender, attorney or other qualified professional.
Quick Answers
Does the August 3 change affect cash buyers? Project review is a lending requirement, so it applies to financed deals backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. A building's budget and insurance still affect what any owner pays each month.
Can I check whether a building is eligible for Fannie Mae financing? Not directly. Fannie Mae's Condo Status Finder is available to associations, management companies and their authorized advisors, and Fannie Mae does not publicly disclose project eligibility decisions. Ask the lender early.
Why does the Deerfield Beach condo median sit below Broward's? In Q3 2026, the city's condo and townhouse median was $179,950, against $250,000 countywide. One citywide median covers hundreds of independent associations, so it says little about any one building. Compare budgets, reserves and insurance before comparing prices.
If you're weighing a Deerfield Beach condo, financed or cash, Kacie Anderson and her team will gather the association's budget, reserve study and insurance documents before you make an offer, so you know how the building looks to a lender before you commit. Schedule Your Free Market Consultation.
