A policy change last week affecting applications for 421-a tax
exemption could help save the tax rebates for a lot of projects that
got into the ground last year. The Department of Housing Preservation
and Development has revised the rules such that developers can maintain
their eligibility for 421-a benefits even if work stops at a project,
or if it takes longer than three years to complete, as long as the
developer can prove that the delay was caused by an inability to obtain
financing. The rules for obtaining the tax abatement have
always required that a project be completed within 36 months from when
the developer broke ground, and that throughout construction, there was
continuously work performed at the site. [more]

Because of the housing downturn, homes in the city’s affordable housing
programs — which are normally in such great demand that buyers are
chosen through lotteries — have not sold out, and developers are
putting the units on the open market. At least 45 affordable units are
available at market rate, which is more than in past years, according
to Seth Donlin, a spokesperson for the city’s Development of Housing
Preservation and Development. City officials and brokers say the units
are lingering on the market because the thousands of people who entered
lotteries for the homes either decided not to buy or could not find
lenders who would give them mortgages. City programs generally allow
buyers to make a down payment as little as 5 to 10 percent of the
purchase price, but most banks are requiring down payments of 20
percent or more for mortgages. [more]