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The Appraisal Institute and 15 other organizations submitted a letter Dec. 21 to the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency asking that they hold a public meeting as part of the process to determine whether to increase the residential appraisal threshold from $250,000 to $400,000.
The Senate passed two pieces of legislation Dec. 19 that link the Small Business Administration’s appraisal threshold to the threshold for commercial real estate as established by the federal bank regulatory agencies. Identical legislation passed the House in September.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Jan. 4 that it will resume selling and renewing flood insurance policies, reversing its previous ruling that the National Flood Insurance Program couldn’t be renewed due to the government shutdown, HousingWire reported.
Single-tenant net lease cap rates remained largely unchanged during the fourth quarter, according to the Net Lease Market Report released Jan. 3 by commercial real estate firm The Boulder Group, MBA NewsLink reported. Cap rates for the office and industrial sectors increased, while retail held steady.
The issuance of commercial mortgage-backed securities is expected to decline by 5 to 10 percent this year, reflective of a general decline that saw CMBS issuance total $77 billion in 2018, down about 12 percent from 2017, according to analytics firm Trepp, National Real Estate Investor reported Jan. 7.
The industrial sector, which has experienced record high rents and low vacancy, is expected to slow down or “pause,” which could allow property investors the chance to close the supply and demand gap, according to real estate services firm JLL, MBA NewsLink reported Jan. 3.
The nation’s median rent was down slightly in 2018, but 29 states reported increases, with the District of Columbia at the top, according to apartment search site Abodo, HousingWire reported Jan. 2. Rhode Island and New York also had high median rents. South Dakota had the lowest.
Home prices are expected to rise nearly 5 percent year-over-year by September, according to analytics firm CoreLogic, HousingWire reported Dec. 31. The forecasts also has mortgage rates rising by as much as half a percentage point before September.
Mortgage rates declined the first week of 2019, prompting optimism that lower rates and slowing home price growth could encourage prospective homebuyers to find a house, Freddie Mac reported Jan. 3 in its Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
The Appraisal Institute announced Jan. 9 that it is accepting nominations for the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Outstanding Service Award, two ways AI recognizes some of its most deserving professionals. Nominations for both awards are due May 24. Awards will be presented at AI’s 2019 Annual Conference July 22-24 in Denver.
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