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Mortgage Rates Up as Homebuyers Re-enter Market; Selection Still Limited: Freddie Mac

Mortgage rates moved up slightly during the past week as prospective homebuyers re-entered the market, Freddie Mac reported June 4 in its Primary Mortgage Market Survey. While the economy slowly rebounds, signs indicate that home sales are picking up nicely even as the supply of available homes remains limited.

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US Economy Expected to Begin Recovery in Q3: ABA Forecast

The U.S. economy will experience about a 6% contraction this year, but will begin to recover from a severe second-quarter downturn in the third quarter, according to the latest forecast of the American Bankers Association’s Economic Advisory Committee.

While the group, made up of 16 chief economists from some of the North America’s largest banks, is unanimous that the economy will expand in the third quarter, there are a wide range of views as to the damage caused by the COVID-19 shock. Four committee members believe the economy will shrink less than 5% in 2020 while just as many see a greater than 8% contraction. The committee members were divided on when they expect economic output to recover to the pre-pandemic level, with the largest number of committee members forecasting it will happen in 2022.

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Mortgage Rates Increase Slightly, but Remain Historically Low, Freddie Mac Reports

Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.26 percent.

“Mortgage rates stayed at or near record lows for the fifth straight week and homeowners are taking advantage with refinance activity remaining high,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “Although purchase demand declined thirty-five percent year-over-year in mid-April, demand has improved modestly over the last three weeks.”

News Facts

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.26 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending May 7, 2020, up from last week when it averaged 3.23 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.10 percent.  
  • 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.73 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.77 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.57 percent.  
  • 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.17 percent with an average 0.3 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.14 percent. A year ago at this time, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.63 percent.
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Potential Home Sellers Gearing Up to List as Soon as Stay-at-home Orders Lift: NAR

More than 3 in 4 potential sellers – 77% – are preparing to sell their homes following the end of stay-at-home orders, with half completing do-it-yourself home improvement projects, according to a new survey from the National Association of Realtors®.

“After a pause, home sellers are gearing up to list their properties with the reopening of the economy,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Plenty of buyers also appear ready to take advantage of record-low mortgage rates and the stability that comes with these locked-in monthly payments into future years.”

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Fannie Allows Collateral Underwriter Instead of Field Reviews

By Phil Hall

Fannie Mae has issued a Lender Letter to its single-family sellers that updated the temporary policies enacted on March 31 in response to the COVID-19 crisis while reaffirming a key tenet regarding borrower income requirements.

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‘Uncertainties’ in Valuations Worry CRE Investors: Survey

By Dean Boerner

As public equities-laden pension funds reel from massive hits leveled by stock market volatility this year, commercial real estate will likely continue growing in importance for institutional investors in the long term, experts say.

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Credit Unions Allow Appraisals to be Delayed 4 Months

Federal banking regulators last week moved to allow banks to delay getting an appraisal on a property for as many as 120 days after a mortgage closes, and now, credit unions can do the same thing.

In order to “allow credit unions to expeditiously extend liquidity to creditworthy households and businesses in light of recent strains on the U.S. economy as a result of the National Emergency declared in connection with coronavirus disease,” the National Credit Union Administration will allow credit unions to postpone obtaining an appraisal until four months after a mortgage closes.

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Federal Banking Agencies Defer Some Appraisals, Evaluations

The federal banking agencies on April 14 issued an interim final rule to temporarily defer appraisals and evaluations under the agencies' interagency appraisal regulations. Certain appraisals and evaluations for residential and commercial properties are deferred for up to 120 days after closing a loan transaction. The interim rule excludes transactions involving acquisition, development, and construction of real estate.

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GSEs, Agencies Issue Coronavirus Guidance for Appraisers

The government-sponsored enterprises, agencies and other policymakers have all issued valuation guidance since March 23 to help clarify how appraisers can perform their work during the coronavirus pandemic, and all new guidance is available on the Appraisal Institute’s coronavirus page. 
 
Recent activity includes:
  • The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced March 23 that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will ease standards for both property appraisals and employment verification. Specifically, the FHFA said appraisal alternatives will be used to prevent appraisers from having to inspect a home’s interior.
  • The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced March 27 that it is making modifications to the re-verification of employment and Acceptable Appraisal Reporting Forms and Protocols for Federal Housing Administration loans by allowing exceptions for exterior-only and desktop appraisal inspections in certain transactions.
  • The Department of Veterans Affairs announced March 27 that it will allow appraisers to perform exterior-only appraisals with enhanced assignment conditions or, in limited instances, a desktop appraisal.
  • The Department of Agriculture announced March 27 that it is granting lenders temporary exceptions pertaining to appraisals, repair inspections and income verification for the Single-Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program. The exceptions are in effect for a 60-day period.
Find more information on the Appraisal Institute’s coronavirus page

New NCAI COVID-19 Resources Webpage

The North Carolina Chapter of the Appraisal Institute (NCAI) continues to monitor developments regarding the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. The health and safety of our members and event participants is of the highest importance and we are taking this outbreak very seriously.  

In an effort for us all to stay informed, NCAI has created a COVID-19 Resources Webpage that provides the latest news regarding the COVID-19 situation at the state, national, and industry levels. 

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AI Issues Coronavirus-related Direction for Appraisers

The Appraisal Institute issued guidance cultivated from its Professional Practice staff on March 16 to help AI professionals and other real estate valuers serve their clients during the rapidly evolving global coronavirus pandemic.

“Appraisers should take care not to put themselves in harm’s way while completing their assignments,” the guidance said, which directed appraisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s current risk assessment.

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Appraisal Institute Seeks Guidance from Policy Makers

The Appraisal Institute announced March 18 that it is aggressively engaging all primary appraisal policy makers to help guide appraisers during the coronavirus pandemic. AI expects some guidance to be released as early as this week about exterior-only and/or desktop appraisals for loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Representatives of the Appraisal Institute have raised appraisers’ concerns regarding property inspections and appraisal waivers and exemptions, seeking a measured or balanced approach to risk mitigation.

So far, most policy discussions have focused on credit issues over collateral concerns and on servicing over loan purchasing issues to keep people who will be facing financial hardship in their homes during the coming weeks and months. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, has begun to engage on appraisal-related issues with many additional issues requiring solutions, including determining how loans will close in areas where courthouses are closed and there are no e-closing procedures, a situation that reportedly affects 20% of the country.

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Coronavirus and the CRE Effect

By Michael Tucker

The real estate impact of coronavirus will likely be limited in the short-term, but it could grow should the virus aggressively spread, analysts said.

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NCAI Statement on COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

Updated 3/23/2020

The North Carolina Chapter of the Appraisal Institute (NCAI) is closely monitoring developments regarding the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. The health and safety of our members and event participants is of the highest importance and we are taking this outbreak very seriously. The Charlotte 7-Hour USPAP Update class, scheduled for March 19, and the Greensboro 7-Hour USPAP Update class, scheduled for March 26, are cancelled. Refunds will be provided.

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Wide Range of Big-Box Values Raises Concerns: The Appraisal Journal

Courts, market participants and valuation professionals have expressed widespread concern about the broad range in real estate values presented by opposing litigation experts regarding single-tenant, big-box properties, according to an article published this week in The Appraisal Journal.

The Appraisal Journal is the quarterly technical and academic publication of the Appraisal Institute, the nation’s largest professional association of real estate appraisers. The materials presented in the publication represent the opinions and views of the authors and not necessarily those of the Appraisal Institute.

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Industrial Sector’s Big Box Segment Sees Strong First Half, Colliers Data Reveals

By Barbra Murray

The first half of 2019 proved to be yet another strong period in the big-box segment of the industrial sector, and despite certain challenges, more of the same is the likely scenario for the remainder of the year, according to Colliers’ 2019 midyear big-box market report.

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Rise in Co-working Spaces May Make Next Recession Worse, Boston Fed Reports

By Ann Saphir

The rise in co-working spaces, like those offered by WeWork, may be a source of financial instability that could make the next U.S. recession worse by sparking a run on commercial real estate, Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren said.

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Appraisers Can Help Clients Navigate Natural Disasters, Appraisal Institute Says

In the aftermath of a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, appraisers can help their clients by providing expert market analysis, according to the nation’s largest professional association of real estate appraisers.

The Appraisal Institute’s “Guide Note 10: Development of an Opinion of Market Value in the Aftermath of a Disaster” addresses how real property markets in affected areas often exhibit instability, even chaos, and how analyzing data in such markets presents an array of challenges. The Guide Note, revised last year, also discusses how valuation professionals can develop credible opinions of market value in the aftermath of a disaster.

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Residential Real Estate Prices Up; Homeownership Tenure Reaches New Peak: Data

 ATTOM Data Solutions, curator of the nation’s premier property database and first property data provider of Data-as-a-Service (DaaS), today released its Q2 2019 U.S. Home Sales Report, which shows that U.S. single family homes and condos sold for a median price of $266,000 in the second quarter, up 10.8 percent from the previous quarter and up 6.4 percent from a year ago — reaching a new median home price peak.

Meanwhile, the report also shows that homeowners who sold in the second quarter had owned an average of 8.09 years, reaching a new peak, up 3 percent from last quarter and up 4 percent from Q2 2018. Homeownership tenure averaged 4.21 years nationwide between Q1 2000 and Q3 2007, prior to the Great Recession.

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'iBuyer' Service Alters Selling Process, Cuts Some Requirements

By Alina Ptaszynski

Opendoor and Redfin, two of the nation’s largest technology-powered real estate companies, today announced home sellers in Phoenix and Atlanta can now request an Opendoor offer through Redfin’s site and mobile apps. By coming together, we are giving homeowners more options for selling their home in a simple and convenient way. Redfin will also continue to expand RedfinNow, its own instant offer service.

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