Morning Briefing: Credit union offers $2 million mortgage with no downpayment!

Credit union offers $2 million mortgage with no downpayment... New home purchase applications fall… Socialite shops for Greenwich Village home… Mortgage rates up ahead of Fed…

Credit union offers $2 million mortgage with no downpayment!
A credit union in California is offering a $2 million mortgage with no downpayment. CNBC reports that San Francisco Federal Credit Union is offering its POPPYLOAN (“Proud Ownership Purchase Program for You”) product to qualifying borrowers who work in SF or San Mateo County, are purchasing a primary residence, are not refinancing. There is no requirement for private mortgage insurance. The loan is a 5/5 ARM and can only rise by 2 percentage points each time up to a maximum of 6 per cent during the period of the loan.
 
New home purchase applications fall
New home mortgage applications decreased 6 per cent in November compared to the previous month. The Mortgage Bankers Association says that the figure is not seasonally-adjusted and belies better news: "This is a very good result considering the time of year.  On a seasonally adjusted basis, we estimate that there were 524,000 new home sales in November, up 5.9 percent from our October estimate of 495,000, and up 31 per cent from November a year ago.  The BAS Index also reached its highest November reading since the index began in 2012," said Lynn Fisher, MBA's Vice President of Research and Economics.

By product type, conventional loans composed 68.4 per cent of loan applications, FHA loans composed 18.1 per cent, RHS/USDA loans composed 0.9 per cent and VA loans composed 12.6 per cent. The average loan size of new homes decreased from $320,881 in October to $320,854 in November.
 
Socialite shops for Greenwich Village home
Fashion designer and socialite Nicky Hilton Rothschild is looking for a new home in Greenwich Village, New York, with her British husband James Rothschild. The New York Post says that the pair recently viewed a triplex penthouse at 12 E. 13th St. which was discounted from the original asking price of $30.5 million to $22.5 million. The five-bedroom, six-bathroom home has 5,704 square feet of internal space and 906 sq. ft. externally and includes a gym and bike storage shared between the building’s 8 units.
 
Mortgage rates up ahead of Fed
With the Fed expected to increase interest rates when it meets next week, mortgage rates are ticking higher. Freddie Mac reports that the average 30-year FRM was 3.95 per cent for the week ending Dec. 10, up from 3.93 per cent; 15-year FRM’s averaged 3.19 per cent, up from 3.16 per cent; 5-year ARM’s averaged 3.03 per cent, up from 2.99 per cent; and 1-year ARM’s averaged 2.64 per cent, up from 2.61 per cent.