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The Federal Housing Finance Agency on Nov. 28 announced that the conforming loan limit values for mortgages to be acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2024 will be $766,550 for one-unit properties in most of the U.S., an increase of $40,350. In the most expensive areas, the loan limit will be $1,149,825 — the second time the limit has surpassed the million-dollar mark.

Banks supervised by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. are financially strong as a group and profits are historically high, but the banking industry faces significant challenges from the effects of inflation, rising interest rates and deterioration in the industry’s commercial real estate portfolio — especially the office sector, according to the FDIC’s Quarterly Banking Profile released Nov. 29.

Last week, my family and I gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving in the same way that I’m sure many of you did – with a large turkey dinner, some football, and a long chat next to a cozy fireplace to help take the chill off the fall weather in South Dakota.

The Federal Reserve said it’s pleased that inflation is slowing but noted that it hasn’t ruled out future rate hikes or committed to lowering rates next year, according to minutes from its most recent Open Market Committee meeting. The Fed also noted that labor market conditions remain tight but are easing and that consumer inflation still needs to drop to 2%.

The office market has been hard hit, but properties serving the tech sector have mostly avoided the fallout — until now, according to Moody’s Analytics, GlobeSt.com reported Nov. 22. Vacancies have jumped in both traditional tech hubs and emerging markets, including San Francisco; Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; and Raleigh-Durham in North Carolina.

The Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors said it believes the banking sector remains sound overall but noted concern about commercial real estate loans in its newest Supervision and Regulation Report, GlobeSt.com reported Nov. 13. The delinquency rates for CRE loans continue to grow, with the largest increase in the office property sector.

The 2024 multifamily loan purchase caps for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be $70 billion each, with a combined total of $140 billion, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Nov. 14. The combined total cap is down from the $150 billion allocated this year and the $156 billion in 2022. However, the amount is much higher than pre-pandemic caps of $70 billion in 2018 and 2019.

The Appraisal Subcommittee on Nov. 1 hosted its third public hearing on appraisal bias, focusing on the residential valuation process (how appraisals are developed and reviewed), the procedures for reconsiderations of value and the process for completing rural appraisals. The ASC’s intention with these hearings is to gather information and establish context to help its efforts to ensure fair appraisals for everyone.

U.S. banks are utilizing so-called synthetic risk transfers to unload risk as they face tighter regulations and rising interest rates, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation, Mint reported Nov. 7. JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley are among the banks utilizing the transfers, which see investors paying cash for bank-issued credit-linked notes or credit derivatives and collecting interest in exchange for shouldering losses if borrowers default.