With the 10-year Treasury note trading at very attractive rates, cooperative apartment buildings and owners of multi-family buildings are taking advantage of low rates and refinancing.

Perhaps the best rates — as low as 5 percent on
five-year fixed loans — are offered by government-chartered companies,
which include Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Commercial and savings banks are providing attractive financing for terms of five to 10 years with rates as low as 4.85 percent to 6 percent. Daniel Harris, executive vice president and chief lending officer at the Dime Savings Bank of Williamsburgh, said: “It has become a very competitive market with existing and new players originating multi-family mortgages. It is a great time for a borrower to lock in a record-low mortgage rate.” [more]

It’s a month into 2010 and a couple of New Jersey savings banks and local credit unions are helping real estate investors in the New York metro area secure much needed financing for commercial real estate. Robert Familant, CEO and treasurer of Progressive Credit Union, which has assets of over $500 million, said that credit unions are increasingly venturing into the business loan market, primarily secured by real property. In 2009, Progressive participated in financing the first dormitory for a private developer less than two blocks from the Brooklyn College; the construction of a condominium on Park Avenue in Manhattan and a number of Brooklyn gasoline stations. New York state credit unions are active and willing to provide financing, yet they are limited to the amount of financing they can provide due to government regulations. Lobbyists for credit unions are pressing Washington to lift the lending cap for commercial business. Credit unions now can only lend 12.5 percent of their assets to businesses. They are lobbying Congress to lift the cap to 25 percent of assets. Short Hills, NJ-based Investors Savings Bank is now providing lending for commercial real estate in the tri-state region. The bank, in business since 1926, has over $8.0 billion in assets and a network of over 58 branches in the Garden State. [more]