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The Federal Reserve on Aug. 1 said that interest rates would remain unchanged due to strong growth — although a September hike is anticipated, Bloomberg reported. The Fed noted that unemployment is low, and household and business spending is on the rise.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency extended for an additional 60 days the public comment period for its proposed rule on capital requirements for the government-sponsored enterprises, MBA NewsLink reported Aug. 1. The FHFA cited numerous requests for more time from multiple stakeholders as reasons for the extension to Nov. 16.
The office sector could slow next year as construction costs and zoning issues increase and concerns grow over the end of the current real estate cycle, according to real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, National Real Estate Investor reported July 24.
Fannie Mae is discontinuing the use of Form 1004MC (Market Conditions), the government-sponsored enterprise announced July 30 at the Appraisal Institute Annual Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. The GSE is expected to officially announce the change when it releases its updated Selling Guide in the coming weeks.
The IRS on July 30 finalized rules for substantiating and reporting cash and noncash charitable deductions, stating that any tax deduction of more than $500,000 requires a qualified appraisal conducted in accordance with generally accepted appraisal standards. The rules take immediate effect.
The Appraisal Institute on July 20 announced its opposition to proposed federal legislation that would reduce the requirements for appraisals in major Small Business Administration loan programs. AI told Congress that it specifically objects to provisions that would increase the real estate appraisal thresholds for SBA loan programs.
The housing industry isn’t the economic driver it once was and doesn’t have much pull in monetary policy decision making, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told the House Financial Service Committee July 17 as he delivered the semi-annual monetary policy report, HousingWire reported.
Some Fed districts reported moderate improvements in the residential real estate sector, but their reports on commercial activity revealed largely stagnant conditions, the Federal Reserve reported July 18 in its newest Beige Book.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled July 16 that the Federal Housing Finance Agency's leadership structure is unconstitutional, HousingWire reported. The court found that the FHFA is too "isolated," and ruled that its director's possible removal only for cause violates the U.S. Constitution's separation of powers.
The Trump administration on July 10 said the Federal Housing Administration will scale back its use of the False Claims Act so that banks that previously shied away from offering FHA loans due to concerns about violations and settlements are more certain about offering those types of loans, HousingWire reported.
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