Originally published on July 27, 2022, by the US Department of Treasury.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced new guidance today to increase the ability of state, local, and tribal governments to use American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to boost the supply of affordable housing in their communities. This step follows a commitment in the Administration’s recently released Housing Supply Action Plan to leverage American Rescue Plan funds for investments in affordable housing as part of a broader strategy to increase the nation’s housing supply and ease housing costs over time.

Originally published on July 27, 2022, by Craig Torres for Bloomberg.com.

Chair Jerome Powell said the Federal Reserve would press on with the steepest tightening of monetary policy in a generation to curb surging inflation while handing officials more flexibility on coming moves amid signs of a broadening economic slowdown. 

Originally published on July 19, 2022, by Jack Rogers for GlobeSt.com.

Resistance from condo boards to a new questionnaire that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are requiring condo sellers to fill out in the wake of the deadly collapse of a Florida high-rise tower last year is having a chilling effect on condo markets across the county, according to a report in the Washington Post.

Originally published on July 18, 2022, by Troy Green for the National Association of Realtors.

Foreign buyers purchased $59 billion worth of U.S. existing homes from April 2021 through March 2022, an 8.5% increase from the previous 12-month period and stopping a three-year skid in foreign investment in U.S. residential real estate, according to a new report from the National Association of REALTORS®. Foreign buyers purchased 98,600 properties, down 7.9% from the prior year and the fewest number of homes bought since 2009 when NAR began tracking this data. Overall in the U.S., existing-home sales totaled 6.12 million in 2021 – the highest annual level since 2006.

Originally published on July 20, 2022, by the Appraisal Institute.

Originally published on July 12, 2022 by Chris Clow for the Reverse Mortgage Daily. 

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) on Tuesday announced an increase in the appraisal validity period for all Single Family Title II forward and Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) transactions, increasing the period specifically for the HECM reverse mortgage program from 120 days to 180 days. This is according to the publication of Mortgagee Letter (ML) 2022-11.

Originally published on June 17, 2022, by Rohit Chopra for CFPB.

Markets work best when rules are simple, easy to understand, and easy to enforce. The CFPB is seeking to move away from highly complicated rules that have long been a staple of consumer financial regulation and towards simpler and clearer rules. In addition, the CFPB is dramatically increasing the amount of guidance it is providing to the marketplace, in accordance with the same principles.

Originally published on June 27, 2022 by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court on June 27 rejected a case involving the use of floor plans in marketing materials. Multiple real estate firms petitioned the court to review the case, contending the Eighth Circuit incorrectly ruled that using floor plans in marketing materials constituted a copyright violation. In April, the Appraisal Institute joined an Amicus Brief filed with the Supreme Court over concerns that appraisers could be sued for making floor plans of a home. (see p. 9, COLUMBIA HOUSE item).

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The Appraisal Institute Board of Directors on June 20 sent to 45-Day Notice proposed amendments to Appraisal Institute Bylaws and Regulation No. 9, an exposure draft of the proposed regional election policy. (AI log-in required).

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Originally published on May 23, 2022, by Maria Volkova for HousingWire.

A piece of legislation introduced in the Senate in mid-May could streamline the appraisal process for VA loans. The legislation would modernize the Department of Veteran Affairs‘ appraisal requirements by allowing desktop appraisals, and in some circumstances, waving appraisals altogether. Currently, all VA appraisals must be performed in-house.

Originally published on June 8, 2022, by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today announced the release of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's (the Enterprises) Equitable Housing Finance Plans for 2022-2024. These plans are designed to complement the initiatives outlined in FHFA's Strategic Plan: Fiscal Years 2022–2026 that promote the Enterprises' safety and soundness and foster housing finance markets that provide equitable access to affordable and sustainable housing.

Originally published on May 23, 2022, by Maria Volkova for HousingWire.com.

A piece of legislation introduced in the Senate in mid-May could streamline the appraisal process for VA loans. The legislation would modernize the Department of Veteran Affairs‘ appraisal requirements by allowing desktop appraisals, and in some circumstances, waving appraisals altogether. Currently, all VA appraisals must be performed in-house.

Originally published by the White House on May 16, 2022.

As President Biden said last week, tackling inflation is his top economic priority. Today, President Biden is releasing a Housing Supply Action Plan to ease the burden of housing costs over time, by boosting the supply of quality housing in every community. His plan includes legislative and administrative actions that will help close America’s housing supply shortfall in 5 years, starting with creating and preserving hundreds of thousands of affordable housing units in the next three years. When aligned with other policies to reduce housing costs and ensure affordability, such as rental assistance and downpayment assistance, closing the gap will mean more affordable rents and more attainable homeownership for Americans in every community. This is the most comprehensive government effort to close the housing supply shortfall in history.

Originally published on May 4, 2022, by Howard Schneider and Ann Saphir for Reuters.

WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by half a percentage point, the biggest jump in 22 years, and the U.S. central bank's chief made an appeal to Americans struggling with high inflation to be patient while officials take the hard measures to bring it under control.

Originally published on April 28, 2022, by Michael Tucker for the Mortgage Banker's Association.

Small-cap commercial real estate prices have accelerated at an unprecedented rate but are not overinflated, reported Boxwood Means LLC, Stamford, Conn.

Originally published on April 27, 2022 by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Washington, D.C. – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today published the 2022-2024 Underserved Markets Plans for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) under the Duty to Serve (DTS) Program.

Originally published on April 14, 2022 by the Federal Housing Finance Agency,

Washington, D.C. – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today issued the FHFA Strategic Plan: Fiscal Years 2022-2026​ (Strategic Plan). The Strategic Plan provides a framework that outlines the Agency’s priorities for the coming years as a regulator of the Federal Home Loan Bank System and as regulator and conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises).

Originally published on April 7, 2022.

The Appraisal Institute on April 7 joined the National Association of Realtors and 17 other organizations in filing an Amicus Brief with the Supreme Court pertaining to a lower court ruling that would allow copyright infringement lawsuits to be filed against individuals, including appraisers, who make floor plans of a home.

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Originally published on April 4, 2022, by Mike Sorohan for the Mortgage Banker's Association. 

The Federal Housing Administration on Friday published a proposed rule that would increase the maximum modification loan term limit from 360 months (30 years) to 480 months (40 years).

Originally published on March 31, 2022, by Georgia Kromrei, for HousingWire.com.

Congress hopes to supplant the appraisal governing body at the center of the industry’s self-regulated framework and make public the trove of appraisal data held by the government-sponsored enterprises.