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The Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Sept. 27 announced the official adoption of a final rule that increases the threshold for residential real estate transactions requiring an appraisal from $250,000 to $400,000. Transactions exempt from the appraisal requirement must instead obtain an evaluation.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Treasury Department announced Sept. 30 that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be allowed to retain up to $45 billion in capital as they prepare to exit conservatorship, HousingWire reported. The Trump administration previously indicated that it opposed a profit sweep of the government-sponsored enterprises.
A review of mid-year commercial real estate showed spreads and divergence in property sectors, but performance for the rest of the year should thrive, according to the U.S. Real Estate Summary report released Oct. 1 by UBS Asset Management, Commercial Property Executive reported. The report showed minimal movement in cap rates and a drop in 10-year Treasury rates.
The outlook for the hospitality sector generally is positive, but home-sharing ventures like Airbnb and VRBO are applying particularly strong pressure to the extended stay and all-suite property sectors, according to a hospitality report conducted by National Real Estate Investor and released Oct. 2. Increasing operating expenses also is a notable challenge.
Co-living arrangements among both younger and older generations and a growing commitment to environmental issues are among the trends expected to shape real estate during the next two years, according to the Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2020 report from the Urban Land Institute and consultant PwC, Forbes reported Oct. 3.
The U.S. multifamily lending market for properties with five or more units jumped 19% last year to a record $339.2 billion, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual sector report, World Property Journal reported Sept. 30. Wells Fargo, CBRE and Chase were the top multifamily lenders by dollar volume.
New York City is the most expensive U.S. city in which to rent an apartment, with units in the 10282 ZIP code averaging $6,211 per month, according to a report on the country’s most expensive rental markets from analytics firm Yardi Matrix, HousingWire reported Sept. 27. Regionally, the Northeast has the largest concentration of expensive ZIP codes.
CoreLogic Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said the pace of home price gains should quicken during the next 12 months, and he expects home prices to increase 5.8% through August 2020 due to continued low mortgage rates, HousingWire reported Oct. 2. Nothaft said he expects interest rates to stay under 4% through the end of the year.
Banks and other lenders are selling a larger number of loans for properties in vulnerable coastal locations to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which puts taxpayers at greater risk because it’s their dollars that are being used to guarantee the loans, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research paper released Oct. 2, CBS News reported.
The nation’s trade war is projected to weaken future economic growth, but the housing sector likely will remain strong well into the fall, Freddie Mac reported Sept. 30 in its September Mortgage Forecast. Home prices are projected to increase 3.4% this year, while home sales are projected to increase 0.3% to 5.98 million.
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