Area lenders for Ocean City, Atlantic City and surrounding areas

Here is a clip from the Press of Atlantic City about the lenders in the area for home buying.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/106/story/113023.html

Confidence remains despite 'distressed' housing market
By ERIK ORTIZ Staff Writer, 609-272-7253
Published: Saturday, March 22, 2008

Ben Balsama was ready to buy a second home along the New Jersey shore, so he scoped out lenders to see what down payment and interest rate options were available.
"The first question, and only question I was asked, was what was my credit score," said Balsama, a Washington Township resident and owner of a construction company. "It's good. I was told, 'You can put 5 percent down.'"

But Balsama, looking to avoid so-called " jumbo" loans and the higher interest rates that come with them, decided to put down more than the traditional 20 percent for the $725,000 home he plans to close on in Sea Isle City next month.

"To me, that was the smartest decision," he said.

Financially sound home buyers such as Balsama are giving lenders and Realtors in Atlantic and Cape May counties confidence in a regional housing market now labeled as "distressed" by mortgage insurers. These distressed areas stretch over at least 34 states and 9,600 ZIP codes; many are markets where home values are declining and foreclosures are prevalent.

"The (shore) home buyers coming in now are extremely well-qualified, and they're recognizing that there are some great deals to be had," said Julie Mealo, co-branch manager for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage in Linwood.

Still, lenders have begun clamping down on borrowers, which can mean requiring first-time home buyers to put more money down or have high credit scores to be approved. It can mean a downsizing on the amount of refinance loans. It can also mean buyers of investment and second homes - which have made up much of the shore region's housing stock - are ineligible for lending because those are seen as riskier properties.

But local lenders say stricter and responsible lending is something many in the area have already been practicing.

Ocean City Home Bank, for instance, lends no more than 95 percent in financing, said Linda Interlante, the bank's vice president of residential lending.

"Along the shore, (borrowers) do tend to be higher-income people," she said.
While lending is predicted to become trickier for investment and second-home buyers, "ironically, those borrowers are more affluent, and they're usually putting more than the required money down," said Steven Brasslett, CEO of Ivy League Mortgage in Linwood.
Mealo said Wells Fargo, one of the country's largest mortgage lenders, is still financing borrowers as much as 90 percent to 95 percent, while helping those home buyers seeking government loans to put as little as 3 percent down.

"You always want to put people into houses that they can afford," Mealo said. "That's a general underwriting philosophy."

Lenders also say that with the Federal Reserve introducing interest rate cuts - 30-year mortgage rates dipped below 6 percent this week - people are taking home buying more seriously.

Bill Malamut, president of Atlantic Coast Mortgage in Pleasantville, said his loan volume is up 50 percent from Jan. 1.

He expects government-insured FHA loans to increase, since they're not imposing lending restrictions on distressed markets as mortgage insurers have.

"The government is trying to help people, not make lending more difficult," Malamut said.
Realtors also are staying optimistic about home buying for the region, especially with falling home prices.

Ian Lazarus, president of the Cape May County Association of Realtors, said, "If you can buy it, you can afford it and you're in for a minimum five or seven years, this is a good opportunity to get into the shore market."