SAN FRANCISCO (12/15/15)--It’s no secret: ballooning rent prices and stubbornly flat wage growth have formed a solid barrier of entry into the housing market. San Francisco FCU (SFFCU) recently unveiled a new loan product that it hopes will help members hurdle that obstacle.

Last week, SFFCU announced a home loan product that provides up to 100% financing. No down payment is required.

“In our community, we saw a lot of members come and really want to buy a home and in that middle market where they have good jobs and make good income, but they just didn’t have that full 20% (to put) down,” Rebecca Reynolds Lytle, SFFCU senior vice president, told KPIX-TV.

Called POPPYLOAN, the product was created by “San Franciscans for San Franciscans who are fed up with paying ridiculous rents,” the credit union said on its website. (See related story: Consumer rental burden reaches another high: Harvard)

Poppy stands for the Proud Ownership Purchase Program for You.

To qualify, members must work in San Francisco or in nearby San Mateo County. The loan is also an adjustable-rate mortgage product that can adjust every five years. The loans only can increase by 2% at each interval and up to 6% over the life of the loan.

Reynolds Lytle added that POPPYLOAN is not a refinance loan or an investment property loan. Applicants are required to pass a strict vetting process to ensure that people who actually need a home will get one.

“This is going to put people that are on the edge to make that decisions (to buy a home),” Darryl Honda, local realtor, told KPIX. “It’s going to turn people into homeowners.”