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The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Nov. 26 that it will raise the conforming loan limit for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to $510,000, up from $484,350, Housing Wire reported. This will be the fourth consecutive annual increase, during which time the limit has increased by more than $93,000.
Both residential and commercial construction activity was steady to moderately higher in most Fed districts during the past six weeks, but home sales remained mostly flat or showed only slight increases, the Federal Reserve reported Nov. 27 in its latest Beige Book. Overall economic activity showed modest expansion.
Cap rate compression in the current market likely will stop as the 2020 presidential election nears and investors re-evaluate their exposure to domestic and geopolitical risks, according to investment advisory firm National Net Lease Group, GlobeSt.com reported Nov. 27.
Investors continue to seek out shopping centers anchored by grocery stores because they are less vulnerable to competition from e-commerce and they drive traffic to other tenants in the shopping complex, according to real estate services firm JLL, National Real Estate Investor reported Nov. 21.
Office, industrial and retail net-lease investment during the third quarter increased 30% year-over-year to $20.9 billion, and overall net-lease investment volume climbed 24% year-over-year to $55.2 billion according to reports, MBA NewsLink reported Nov. 27. Investor demand could surpass last year’s record $69.6 billion.
Next year’s housing market is expected to include the return of bidding wars and a greater financial impact resulting from climate change, according to a 2020 housing market predictions report released Nov. 25 by online real estate marketplace Redfin. Other predictions: increased homebuying from Hispanic Americans and more car-free city streets.
Home prices rose 1.1% between the second and third quarters, and were up 4.9% from the same point a year ago, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index released Nov. 26. Prices have risen every quarter for the past eight years.
Pending home sales fell 1.7% in October after two months of increases, the National Association of Realtors reported Nov. 27. The Northeast was the only region where housing contracts increased month-to-month, but all regions were up compared to the same point last year.
Mortgage rates increased slightly during the past week after nine months of fairly consistent declines, Freddie Mac reported Nov. 27 in its Primary Mortgage Market Survey. Freddie noted that the housing market has sometimes been slow to respond to lower rates, but conditions are ripe to boost the residential sector.
The Appraisal Institute designated 19 members in November, with 10 receiving their MAI designations, three receiving their SRA designations, five receiving their AI-GRS designations and one receiving his AI-RRS designation.
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