Short sales are becoming more and more common in expensive areas as Long Island luxury homeowners try to escape the embarrassment of a foreclosure, the New York Times reported. In Nassau County, 22 houses worth more than $1 million are listed as short sales and
in Suffolk County, that number is 12.

Short sale inventory reached a record high in April, according to Richard Halloran, managing broker of Coldwell Banker’s Babylon office, citing 1.042 Nassau homes listed as short sales and 2,430 in Suffolk. In December 2008, those figures were 1,541 in Suffolk and 633 in Nassau.

“With the courts at a standstill and banks not foreclosing on properties,” Halloran said, “the banks are getting better at doing short sales, so more people are doing them.” [more]

While the residential market has been sagging in and around the greater New York City, there are six Long Island neighborhoods where home prices have stayed rock solid through the financial downturn, according the Newsday. The North Shore’s Port Jefferson, Holbrook in central Suffolk County, East Islip in the southern shore of Suffolk County and New Hyde Park, Great Neck and East Rockaway in Nassau County, all rank as neighborhoods where home prices have remained strong, according to local real estate experts. While some of the neighborhoods on the list, like Port Jefferson, stayed hot because of amenities like a nearby country club, experts say that communities like New Hyde Park are often able to stay afloat because of their sheer proximity to New York City.

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]

A set of co-op board anti-discrimination standards that failed to obtain New York City Council approval three years ago has found new life in Suffolk County, where co-op approval boards will now be required to provide a list of reasons for not accepting potential tenants. The law also requires that co-op boards provide the same application materials and information to all applicants. A similar law failed to take shape in New York City, even though more than half of the City Council was originally in support of the bill. While some groups, including the New York State Association of Realtors, have been long-time supporters of a disclosure legislation imposed on co-op boards, influential city groups, such as the Real Estate Board of New York, have emerged as vociferous opponents. Marolyn Davenport, senior vice president of REBNY, said that the board’s stance on the matter was resolute. “We’ve opposed any legislation that would require co-op boards to disclose their reason for refusal,” Davenport said.