(Reuters) - New York Community Bancorp ( NYCB/PA ) reported a loss for the third quarter on Friday as the regional lender set aside more reserves to cover potential loan losses.

The bank has been grappling with a big exposure to the troubled commercial real estate (CRE) market, mainly due to rising delinquencies in the office sector as buildings remain empty after the pandemic and elevated refinancing costs persist.

Ballooning charge-offs - debt written off as unlikely to be recovered - have prompted regional lenders to increase provisions to cover the CRE sector, in case of more loans sour.

NYCB's provisions for credit losses totaled $242 million in the third quarter versus $62 million, in the year-ago period.

This marks the fourth straight quarterly loss for the lender, weighed down by its large CRE exposure this year, prompting management shake-ups, heightened regulatory scrutiny, and a stock rout.

It posted a net loss available to common shareholders of $289 million, or 79 cents per share, compared with a profit of $199 million, or 81 cents per share, a year ago.

(This story has been corrected to say fourth straight quarterly loss, not third, in paragraph 5)

(Reporting by Niket Nishant and Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)