No, The FHA Isn't Giving $3 Million Mortgages

A recent Bloomberg article suggested that the FHA had made a special arrangement to offer mortgages of up to $3 million on luxury Manhattan condos. This is not true. FHA loan limits of $729,750 are still in place.

From the article:

Whitney Gollinger, marketing chief for a Manhattan condo building with an outdoor movie theater and panoramic city views, is highlighting a different amenity to spur sales: the financial backing of the federal government.The Federal Housing Administration agreed in March to insure mortgages for apartments at the 98-unit Gramercy Park development, known as Tempo. That enables buyers to make a down payment of as little as 3.5 percent in a building where apartments are listed at $820,000 to $3 million.

“It’s a government seal of approval,” said Gollinger, a director at the Developments Group of New York-based brokerage Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate. “We need as many sales tools as we can have these days, and it’s one more tool.”

Sure, they could put down that little, in theory, if they could negotiate that $820,000 down to $755,000 or so. Or, they could put $1M down on a $1,729,750 unit. But the FHA loan limits are not changing to accommodate NYC luxury condos.