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Appraisal Institute Withdraws as Sponsor of The Appraisal Foundation Stating that it had “no choice,” the Appraisal Institute withdrew its sponsorship of The Appraisal Foundation on Sept. 7. The Appraisal Foundation’s Board of Trustees met June 15 in Rosemont, Ill., to discuss possible actions against the Appraisal Institute for alleged violations of the Foundation’s Bylaws, which the Appraisal Institute vigorously denied. The Appraisal Foundation on July 13 notified the Appraisal Institute that the Foundation’s Board of Trustees had voted to sanction the Appraisal Institute. > FULL STORYFed Proposal that Would Allow Cancellation of Fees is Open for Comment The Federal Reserve has issued a proposal that would allow consumers the right to cancel mortgage applications within three days and get refunds on appraisal and application fees, according to a Sept. 2 Bankrate.com story. Consumers and industry groups have until mid-November to comment on the possible new rules. > FULL STORY |
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AI Member Testifies at FCIC Hearing on Impact of Financial Crisis  Calling the impact of the financial crisis the greatest and "most dramatic" he’s seen in 48 years as an appraiser in Bakersfield, Calif., Gary Crabtree, SRA, told a Sept. 7 field hearing of the federal Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission that mortgage fraud played a major role in the recession of Bakersfield’s residential housing market. Crabtree used his testimony to detail the rapid appreciation of area homes, the influx of national builders and mortgage brokers into Bakersfield, and the subsequent fraud he observed as greed and unscrupulous lending practices became the industry norm. > FULL STORYFHFA Bars Fannie, Freddie from Buying CMBS for Credit Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are no longer allowed to purchase mortgage-backed securities to meet affordable-housing goals, according to new rules issued Sept. 2 by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees the government-sponsored enterprises. > FULL STORYFannie to Monitor Servicers’ Delayed Foreclosures  Fannie Mae announced that it will begin monitoring loan servicers to determine why there are delays in moving delinquent mortgages into foreclosure, American Banker reported Sept. 2. According to the report, Fannie’s loss increases the longer it takes to foreclose on a property. Greg Hebner, president of MOS Group Inc., noted that Fannie Mae’s announcement is an indication that servicers have been sluggish in filing foreclosure. "You have so many loans in workout and in limbo that the servicers are probably pretty far behind," Hebner told American Banker. > FULL STORYFDIC Cites Banker, Regulator Failures in Shuttered Bank Report  The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s reviews of individual bank failures show that bad bankers – not commercial real estate – are largely responsible for bank closures, according to a Sept. 1 news release from CoStar. The FDIC's Office of Inspector General’s material loss reviews of seven banks closed in late 2009 found that many failed banks' boards and managers did not implement adequate controls to identify, measure, monitor and control the risks associated with significant and growing CRE loan concentrations.
> FULL STORYArizona Tightens AMC Registration Process  Effective Oct.1, all administratively complete appraisal management company applications will be reviewed by the Arizona Board of Appraisal’s Application Review Committee to ensure the applications are substantively complete and meet all of the statutory qualifications for registration. According to the Board, once the Committee determines an application is substantively complete, the Committee will make a recommendation to the Board whether the application should be approved or denied.
> FULL STORYAI Expresses Concerns about IVSC Standards Exposure Draft  In a Sept. 3 letter, the Appraisal Institute recommended that the International Valuations Standards Council make sweeping changes to its recent exposure draft in order to make its proposed international valuation standards more accessible to a wide, international audience. According to the Appraisal Institute’s comments, separating the standards from guidance will result in a document with greater enforceability as well as alleviate the need to develop separate standards for different asset types, as is currently the case. > FULL STORY |
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JPMorgan Deal Minimizes Repurchase Responsibility A 2009 deal struck by JPMorgan Chase with government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to “resolve” certain mortgage repurchase claims is paying off for one of the nation’s biggest lenders, according to a Sept. 1 article in The Wall Street Journal. > FULL STORYHotel Room Rate to Rise amid Dwindling Supply: PwC  According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, a deceleration in hotel construction could lead to "robust room rate growth" in the United States during 2011, Business Travel News reported Aug. 30. In its quarterly U.S. lodging forecast, PricewaterhouseCoopers said that U.S. supply growth would be just 2 percent this year and an even lower 0.4 percent in 2011. Although the firm echoed Colliers PKF Hospitality Research's recent projection of a 0.6 percent decline in average daily rates this year compared with 2009, PwC is projecting rates will increase by 4.1 percent in 2011, higher than PKF's projection of 3.8 percent.
> FULL STORYSpread between Cap Rate, Bond Yield at Record High  With bond yields at record highs, some investors see it as the perfect time to invest in commercial real estate, according to a Sept. 1 Bloomberg News story. U.S. commercial real estate yields are currently near the highest historical level relative to Treasury bonds. In the second quarter of 2010, capitalization rates, a measure of real estate yields, averaged 7.22 percent. That spread is close to the record 539 basis points in the first quarter of 2009, and stands at 429 basis points, or 4.29 percentage points, higher than the yield on 10-year government bonds as of June 30.
> FULL STORYMortgage Rate Falls to Record Low 4.32 Percent The 30-year fixed rate mortgage fell for the eleventh consecutive week, making home loans more affordable as sales slip, according to Freddie Mac's Sept. 2 Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey . The rate averaged 4.32 percent in the weekly survey, down from 4.36 percent the previous week and 5.08 percent a year ago. > FULL STORYNAR: July Pending Home Sales Increase  The National Association of Realtors’ pending home sales index rose 5.2 percent in July but remains 19.1 percent down from the same period a year ago. July’s increase, reported Sept. 2, follows a steep drop in the months following the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit. According to NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, the housing market recovery will be a long process. “Home sales will remain soft in the months ahead, but improved affordability conditions should help with a recovery,” Yun said in a news release.
> FULL STORYVornado Starts Shopping Around Merchandise Mart Christopher Kennedy's Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. is on the market for more than $1 billion, Crain’s Chicago Business reported Sept. 4. Parent company Vornado Realty Trust has been dropping hints with potential buyers that it wants to sell the entire entity, including the fortress-like building along the Chicago River. Vornado purchased it from the Kennedy family in 1998 for $630 million, Crain’s reported.
> FULL STORYLatest CMBS Default Info Shows Some Market Movement  An analysis by Investcap Advisors LLC and QuantumRisk LLC showed that New York was the least-stressed market in terms of commercial mortgage-backed securities defaults in July, followed by Seattle, Costar Advisor reported Sept. 1. The two markets had probability of default ratios and loss severities on loans of less than 2 percent. Rounding out the top five least-stressed markets were Baltimore at number three with a probability default ratio of 2.25 percent and a loss severity of 2.19 percent. > FULL STORYReal Estate Center Releases Six-month Housing Overview  Fueled by the homebuyer tax credit, the overall housing market showed noticeable improvement during the first half of 2010 compared to the same period a year ago, according to a report by Texas A&M University’s Real Estate Center released in September. However, sustainability during the second half remains questionable. Existing single-family home sales were up 12.4 percent to nearly 2.3 million units in the first half of the year compared to a year ago, which lowered existing home inventory from 8.9 months to 8.6 months.
> FULL STORYAI Names Seven Members as Volunteers of Distinction for September  The Appraisal Institute has honored seven members as Volunteers of Distinction for September. The Appraisal Institute’s member recognition program honors one member in good standing in each region each month for their service to the organization, the profession and their community. The members receiving recognition for September were: Region I’s Benjamin Becker, a member of the Northern California Chapter; Region II’s Robert Stevens, MAI, SRA, of the Colorado Chapter; Region V’s Otto Spence, MAI, Bluegrass Chapter; Region VI’s Kenneth Bell, SRA, Northeastern Pennsylvania Chapter; Region VII’s Brent Koenig, San Diego Chapter; Region VIII’s George Naeter, MAI, North Texas Chapter; and Region X’s Carlton Cole, MAI, South Florida Chapter.
> FULL STORYAI in the News: AI’s Home Buying Guide Featured in National Trade Media  The Appraisal Institute’s latest book, “An Insider’s Guide to Home Buying” by Mark Rattermann, MAI, SRA, garnered media coverage from several national outlets the week of Aug. 30, including Valuation Review, RISMedia.com, National Mortgage Professional Magazine and Inman News. The book, published Aug. 27, teaches homebuyers when to buy, how to find a real estate agent, how to choose the best home on the market, written from the uniquely unbiased perspective of a real estate appraiser.
> FULL STORY |
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The Appraisal Institute is a global membership association of professional real estate appraisers, with 26,000 members and 91 chapters throughout the world. Its mission is to advance professionalism and ethics, global standards, methodologies, and practices through the professional development of property economics worldwide. Organized in 1932, the Appraisal Institute advocates equal opportunity and nondiscrimination in the appraisal profession and conducts its activities in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. Members of the Appraisal Institute benefit from an array of professional education and advocacy programs, and may hold the prestigious MAI, SRPA and SRA designations. Learn more at www.appraisalinstitute.org.
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