The record rainfall in March followed by the rain showers in April will provide beautiful flowers this month. The same seems to be the case when it comes to the appetite of local financial institutions to offer very attractive multi-family financing, primarily in the Garden State.

Well-capitalized and smaller institutions, including Investors Savings Bank, NVE Bank, Kearney Federal, North Jersey Community Bank and Oritani Bank, are actively sourcing new transactions.

In April, Investors Bancorp, the parent company of Investors Savings Bank, purchased $575 million of deposits and 17 branches of Millennium bcpbank. The bank, which has been quite active in providing multi-family financing over the past 18 months, continues to be bullish for these loans. [more]

It may be hard to believe, but lenders are now actually sending letters of intent to provide construction financing. Construction financing, perhaps the riskiest type of mortgage financing, is available in the tri-state region for rent-regulated and other multi-family buildings. It even exists for condominium projects (and yes, I did say “condominium”).

Gino Martocci, president of the New York City and Long Island region of M&T Bank, said: “We have and continue to provide construction financing for well-capitalized clients. We are in the process of providing construction financing for a brand new hotel in the Union Square neighborhood.” Another established developer who prefers to remain anonymous, who is in the process of building a rental building off Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side, told me that 10 financial institutions have expressed interest in the development. [more]

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]