Delray Beach & Boynton Beach Move-Up Buyers: Carrying Save Our Homes Portability Forward
Updated October 2026
Fifteen years in the same Boynton Beach house builds a tax benefit most owners never consciously calculate. Save Our Homes caps annual assessment growth on homesteaded Florida property at 3 percent or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. Over a long hold in an appreciating market, the gap between market value and capped assessed value becomes an asset — and Florida lets you take a substantial portion of it with you.
The mechanism is portability, created by Amendment 1 in 2008. When you sell a homesteaded property and establish a new Florida homestead, you can transfer your accumulated assessment differential up to a $500,000 maximum. Moving up in value, the differential transfers dollar for dollar against the cap. Moving down, the transfer is proportional — the ratio of your old assessed value to old market value is applied to the new home's market value. The transfer must be claimed, not granted automatically: you file form DR-501T alongside the DR-501 homestead application with the property appraiser, generally by the March 1 deadline following your move, and the prior homestead must have been abandoned within the applicable window.
Here is why it belongs in a mortgage conversation. A Boynton owner with $420,000 in differential who buys a $780,000 Delray Beach home near Lake Ida or in the Seacrest corridor sees taxable value drop from roughly $780,000 to roughly $360,000. At a combined Palm Beach millage near 20 mills, that is about $8,400 in annual tax savings — close to $700 a month out of the escrow portion of your payment. A lender who ignores portability and escrows on full market value will quote a monthly payment that is wrong by that amount and may approve you for materially less house than you can actually carry.
Ask your loan officer to document the expected portability in writing and escrow accordingly. Verify your current differential and the new parcel's figures at pbcpao.gov; if you are selling in Broward and buying in Palm Beach, the originating differential is confirmed at bcpa.net. Program resources are at floridahousing.org.
Re-run the payment with the adjusted tax figure at the monthly payment calculator and today's rates. Related: the two-county hub, Boca Raton, and Coral Springs.
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Compare current APRs, points, fees, and estimated monthly payments from participating lenders below.
Loan Program Comparison: 2026 Benchmarks
Delray Beach & Boynton Beach Move Up Buyers: Carrying Save Our Homes Portability Forward — Choose a mortgage by comparing eligibility, upfront cash and total monthly costs, not the advertised rate alone. Conventional, FHA, VA and USDA serve different borrowers. Confirm county limits, taxes, insurance and lender requirements before comparing personalized Loan Estimates for your household.
Historical 2025 one-unit comparison: conforming $806,500; FHA floor $524,225. County and unit-count limits can differ.
| Loan program | Down payment / equity | 2026 one-unit baseline | Costs and page-specific comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conventional | 3%–5% subject to eligibility | $832,750 | PMI generally below 20% down |
| FHA | 3.5% at 580+; 10% at 500–579 | $541,287 floor | 1.75% upfront MIP; 0.55% annual for >95% LTV, base loan ≤$726,200, term >15 years |
| VA | 0% for eligible borrowers | No VA limit with full entitlement | No monthly PMI; funding fee unless exempt |
| USDA | 0% for eligible borrowers | Income, address and repayment eligibility | Guarantee and annual fees; confirm current schedule |
| Jumbo | Lender-specific cash and reserves | Above applicable conforming limit | Lender-specific pricing and insurance |
| Home Equity / Refinance | Equity and underwriting dependent | Property and lender dependent | Compare closing costs, term and break-even |
Sources: FHFA limits; HUD FHA limits.
Editorial Methodology & Primary Sources
Verification date: Not recorded; check the primary source and lender timestamp before relying on an estimate.
Rate comparisons use participating lender feeds, not a whole-market survey or guaranteed offers. Freddie Mac PMMS is a market benchmark, not a personalized quote. Calculator models rely on published regulatory formulas and disclosed assumptions rather than fabricated first-person loan testing.
Monthly principal and interest use the amortization formula P × r / (1 − (1 + r)−n), where r is the monthly note rate and n is the number of payments; at zero interest use P / n. PITI adds monthly property taxes and homeowners insurance; PMI is separate. APR includes applicable finance charges under Regulation Z and is not the note rate used for payments. Compare lender Loan Estimates for actual APR and fees.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) — Loan Estimates, APR and borrower disclosures; Regulation Z.
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD / FHA) — FHA program guidance.
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) — VA loan eligibility and benefits.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) — published rate benchmarks.
- U.S. Census state tax collections — state property tax benchmarks; confirm parcel-specific assessments and exemptions with the state revenue department and local assessor.
The payment snapshot uses illustrative annual taxes of 1% of home price, $1,200 insurance and 0.5% PMI below 20% down, not verified local quotes. Other calculators disclose their inputs and assumptions. Published guidance and lender feeds may change independently; confirm current program rules, taxes and offers before a decision.