Metro

Luxury ‘$uite’ deals

The federal government is looking out for the not-so-little guy — insuring mortgages at luxury Manhattan condos.

Intended to spur low-to-moderate-income home ownership, relaxed regulations by the Federal Housing Administration have buildings in TriBeCa, Midtown, Battery Park and on the Upper East and West sides turning to the agency for help selling their swanky condos.

The FHA has been insuring mortgages for apartments at the 98-unit Tempo development in Gramercy Park since March, Bloomberg News reported.

The development features an outdoor movie theater, panoramic city views, apartments valued between $820,000 and $3 million — and, thanks to the government, the ability to land a mortgage with less than a $100,000 deposit.

The FHA will insure mortgage loans at the building for up to $729,750 — which means that if a homebuyer defaults on a mortgage, the agency will pay for it, spurring banks to sign off on mortgages they likely would not have otherwise, given the current financial climate.

It also benefits the well-to-do who might have had problems getting into deluxe properties for the very well-to-do.

“It’s a government seal of approval,” Tempo marketing chief Whitney Gollinger told Bloomberg News.

At least nine developments south of 96th Street have sought approval for FHA backing since the agency loosened its financing rules in December because of “market conditions,” the report said.

“We are certainly cognizant of falling sales prices, limited availability of liquidity, etc., so we wanted to be flexible,” FHA spokesman Lemar Wooley told Bloomberg News.

Among the buildings trying for FHA approval is the Sheffield, on West 57th Street, home to model Lydia Hearst-Shaw.

Orest Tomasellu, president of the National Condo Advisers Board, told The Post the relaxed regulations — which are temporary — have been a boon but not a cure-all.

“I can’t say it’s been magical, but it’s allowed developers to close on apartments they otherwise might not have been able to in the current marketplace,” he said.

It’s also not a bad deal for the government, because the buyers they’re dealing with typically make much larger down payments than the agency is used to. The agency can back mortgages with down payments as low as 3.5 percent.

LOAN WOLVES

Swanky Manhattan condos that have FHA-insured backing:

* Tempo Condominium, 300 W. 23rd St.
* Be @ William Condominium, 90 William St.
* Griffin Court Condominium, 800 Tenth Ave.
* The 505 Condominium, 505 W. 47th St.
* One Rector Park, 333 Rector Place
* Whitehouse, 67 Hudson St.
* 220 Third Avenue Condominium, 220 Third Ave.
* The Kips Bay Towers, 330 E. 33rd St.