NEW YORK—A New York State Appellate Court has overturned an earlier lower court ruling and has upheld controversial state regulations that restrict what state regulators have termed excessive marketing costs and other unscrupulous activity in the title industry. The Appellate Division, First Department, on Jan. 15 reversed a ruling last July by New York Supreme…
Read MoreNYACK--- Hudson United Mortgage Services, LLC reported on Jan. 8 the firm is now accepting appointments for its Second Look Program, back by popular demand. Any prospective homebuyer is encouraged to meet with a Hudson United Mortgage loan officer once they have received a mortgage estimate from another lender to receive competitive rates and discuss…
Read MoreTHORNWOOD— The Board of Directors and CEO Michael Gilfeather of Orange Bank & Trust announced on Jan. 7 the opening of its full-service Thornwood branch at 859 Franklin Ave. “We are proud to continue to serve the Mount Pleasant community with our new branch in Thornwood,” said Joseph Ruhl, regional president at Orange Bank &…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—The Westchester County Industrial Development Agency released its full-year 2018 activity report on Jan. 2 which showed that its $48.8 million in incentives are projected to create $881.4 million in future private investment capital in the county’s economy. The report noted that the approved projects will create 2,680 construction jobs, 222 permanent jobs and…
Read MoreWASHINGTON—On Dec. 21, National Association of Realtors President-Elect Vince Malta testified before the House Financial Services Committee. During the hearing, “A Legislative Proposal to Provide for a Sustainable Housing Finance System: The Bipartisan Financing Reform Act of 2018,” Malta, a third-generation Realtor and the CEO and broker of Malta & Co., Inc. in San Francisco,…
Read MoreWASHINGTON—On Nov. 27, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced it will raise the national conforming loan limit for 2019 by 6.9% from $453,100 to $484,350. In addition, the high-cost limit will rise from $679,650 to $726,525. As a result, loan limits will be higher in all but 47 counties or county equivalents across the country…
Read MoreELMSFORD, NY -- Hudson United Mortgage Services, LLC, a full-service mortgage banker/broker licensed in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Florida, is growing its footprint in Westchester County with the opening of a new office at 570 Taxter Road in Elmsford. The firm also reported it has brought on Donald Arace, a veteran of the…
Read MoreNEW YORK—Fannie Mae has approved the Community Preservation Corp., a leading nonprofit affordable housing and community revitalization finance company, as a Multifamily Special Affordable Lender to originate Multifamily Affordable Housing (MAH) and Small Mortgage Loans. Also, CPC reported that it will move its New York City operations into nearly 30,000 square feet of space at…
Read MoreToo often, developers can’t secure permanent financing upon a project’s completion. If it’s a condominium project will the condo project sell out? Then, there is construction gamble, as cost overruns, accidents, delays and other problems tend to occur on every job. Imagine, for example, a crane falling or dropping an expensive beam. Further, good labor…
Read MoreNEW YORK—TD Bank reported on Aug. 28 it had closed on an $18.4-million construction loan for MHANY Management Inc. and We Stay/Nos Quedamos, Inc. (Nos Quedamos) to develop the second phase of Phoenix Estates, a new eight-story, mixed-use building in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx. The 111,000 square foot building will eventually become…
Read MoreNEW YORK—New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Aug. 9th his intent to propose legislation to “decouple” state tax policy from the federal tax code if the Trump Administration follows through on a plan to enact a $100-billion capital gains tax cut. Gov. Cuomo in a press conference in New York City also called on…
Read MoreThe commercial real estate lending market came off of a record year in 2017, as mortgage originations totaled $530 billion. Fundamentally, rates, property values, credit policies and demand support the continuing strength of the CRE market. Technically, a large block of maturing CMBS loans will leave many CRE owners attempting to sell should they be…
Read MoreNEW CITY—In four years, Rockland County government has gone from having approximately $42,000 in the bank and $138 million in debt, to being in the black with a fund balance of more than $6 million. Rockland County Executive Ed Day announced the positive budgetary news relating to the county’s just released Comprehensive Annual Financial Report…
Read MoreWASHINGTON—With America’s homeownership rate struggling to match falling unemployment and increasing consumer confidence, protecting the benefits of the secondary mortgage market remains critical to the health of the overall housing industry. On June 22, the National Association of Realtors hosted a roundtable event examining the scope and status of comprehensive Government-Sponsored Enterprise, or GSE, reform,…
Read MoreWASHINGTON—The U.S. House passed bipartisan legislation on Tuesday (May 22) that the National Association of Realtors believes will bring much-needed bank regulatory relief and consumer protections and is a step in the right direction for the industry. S. 2155, the “Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act,” contains several favorable provisions for housing, including…
Read MoreWASHINGTON—Recently released mortgage finance activity data released by the Mortgage Bankers Association indicate mixed results during the month of April. The Mortgage Bankers Association Builder Applications Survey data for April 2018 released on May 10 showed mortgage applications for new home purchases increased 7.5% compared to April 2017. Compared to March 2018, applications decreased by…
Read MoreWHITE PLAINS—Avison Young’s New York Capital Markets Group reports it has arranged a $120.3-million financing package for the acquisition and redevelopment of the Westchester Financial Center, a 571,000-square-foot office complex located at 50 Main St/ and 1-11 Martine Ave. in White Plains. The buyers, a joint venture comprising Ginsburg Development Companies, LLC and Robert Martin…
Read MoreNANUET—Hudson United Mortgage recently announced that it has been approved as a mortgage banker in New York. The new license will allow Hudson United to operate as a correspondent lender in its own name, control more of the process, and bring on additional investors with niche products. “This is a tremendous achievement and opens an…
Read MoreSANTA CLARA, CA—Rising interest rates and home prices will cause a resounding majority of millennials to modify their home search, perhaps prompting them to seek a smaller or less expensive home or even consider different neighborhoods, according to a survey released on April 4 by realtor.com. Two factors are contributing to market sensitivity from millennials—their…
Read MoreNEW YORK—New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced today (March 21) a $230-million settlement with UBS in connection with its packaging, marketing and issuance of residential mortgage-backed securities to investors prior to the housing crisis in 2006. The settlement includes $189 million worth of consumer relief for New York homeowners and communities and…
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