Frank Cuneo and Alan Levy are frustrated. After weeks working with a prospective buyer for a one-bedroom apartment in the “Dafina”, a new luxury condominium development in Harlem, New York, the two-man real estate team at Halstead Properties lost the deal. The buyer could not get a mortgage.

“This was a good borrower with stellar credit and a 25 per cent downpayment, but she wasn’t the problem. The banks didn’t want to finance the building,” said Mr Levy.