Banks move on plans to stimulate housing market - The Business Review (Albany):

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Full details of the Obama administration’sd Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan will be releaseddMarch 4. But observers say the which will make it easier for peoplee to refinance even if their house is worthu less thantheir principal, could applhy to relatively few area homeowners. “Upstatre New York is not a target marker for this typeof program,” said John Koelmel, CEO of . He pointesd to the area’s stable housing values and lackof loans. Koelmel said Lockport-based First Niagarwa already works with customers whofeel stretched, and “u won’t defer to the details of any specifixc government plan.
” Other area banks have embarkeed on their own effortzs to stimulate and stabilize the local housing market. Sisterds and are offering a totalof $60 million in reduced-rate Pittsfield, Mass.-based plans to make a tota l of $300 million in mortgagew and home equity loans in 2009. “These programs can make a saidMichael Daly, CEO of Berkshire, which has 10 area “If those of us who are close to the grounfd take the initiative, we can have as much impac t as any government program.” Berkshire will roll out its program March 16, and is stillo working out the details.
The mortgages effort is part of $500 million “community investmen t plan” that also includes free credit counseling and lendinvg to businessesand nonprofits. Daly said the effort should increasethe bank’s lending by abou t $50 million from 2008 levels. As part of the mortgagew push, Berkshire will work with homebuilders in each of its four markete to create a data base of availablew homesand lots. Peopl e who purchase one of those properties will be eligibl efor “preferred” mortgage terms and reduced closinfg costs.
Berkshire received $40 million through the Treasuryu Department’s Capital Purchase Program, but Daly said the bank would have upped itslending anyway. “It is our socialk obligation,” he said. Neither Saratoga Nationaol nor GlensFalls National, both subsidiariese of of Glens Falls, accepted treasury Ray O’Conor, president of Saratogq National, said the banke want to act with “no impacgt on the taxpayer, and no bureaucracy.” Saratogaz National has set aside $10 million for reduced rate mortgaged in Saratoga County. Glens Falls Nationao has committedto $50 milliom in low-cost loans in its service which stretches from Warren County to the Canadian border.
In both mortgages will be offered ata quarter-point below the bank’se regular rate. Home buyers also will receivs rebates—$300 at Saratoga Nationak and $500 at Glens Falls National—on their closing