Confidence in the multifamily housing market edged down in the second quarter of 2018, according to the Multifamily Production Index (MPI) released today by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The MPI dipped two points to 51 compared to the previous quarter.

The MPI measures builder and developer sentiment about current conditions in the apartment and condo market on a scale of 0 to 100. The index and all of its components are scaled so that a number above 50 indicates that more respondents report conditions are improving than report conditions are getting worse.

By Brian J. Rogal 

Once considered something of an afterthought by institutional investors, medical office has rapidly established itself as one of the most desirable sectors. And with so many favorable trends, including the aging of the US population and the desire among patients to see medical professionals in new facilities close to home, experts say new construction should continue proceeding at a healthy clip. For most kinds of commercial real estate, a rapid expansion is usually taken as a sign that a more cautious approach may be needed, at least from an investment standpoint. But medical office will probably escape that trap.

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Existing-home sales subsided for the fourth straight month in July to their slowest pace in over two years, according to the National Association of Realtors®. The West was the only major region with an increase in sales last month.

Total existing-home sales1, https://www.nar.realtor/existing-home-sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, decreased 0.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.34 million in July from 5.38 million in June. With last month’s decline, sales are now 1.5 percent below a year ago and have fallen on an annual basis for five straight months.

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Written by Michael Tucker

The national office market continues to improve, largely due to a strong job market with just a 3.9 percent unemployment rate, reported Transwestern, Houston.

By Ben Lane

One of the vestiges of the financial crisis is now officially in the past.

By Karan Kaul

First-time homebuyers face a difficult housing market: high prices, low supply, tight credit, and renting costs that make it difficult to save for a down payment. But compared with repeat buyers, first-timers have dominated the mortgage market for the past 10 years, and their share today is still high. We don’t see this changing anytime soon.

Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing that mortgage rates decreased slightly for the second consecutive week.  

Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, says mortgage rates remained mostly flat over the past week, which has been the dominant theme since late spring. “This stability in borrowing costs comes despite the highest core inflation rates since 2008 and turbulence in the currency markets,” he said. “Unfortunately, this pause in rates is not leading to increasing home sales.”

A new analysis by Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC), finds that the strong performance experienced by the multifamily market in the first half of 2018 will continue throughout the end of the year and well into 2019. The findings were released as part of Freddie Mac Multifamily’s 2018 Mid-Year Outlook pdf and companion video. The Outlook predicts that in 2018, multifamily origination volume is expected to grow by 3.3 percent to $305 billion. 

In the Outlook, Freddie Mac Multifamily Research and Modeling vice president Steve Guggenmos and manager Sara Hoffmann find that overall, the multifamily market continues to experience very healthy performance. While fundamentals have started to moderate over the past few years, the factors most critical to market strength continue to remain strong, for example, with rents rising above inflation and vacancy rates only increasing slowly.

By Michael Tucker

Commercial real estate executives see "balanced and stable" market conditions despite growing concerns the market could be nearing the end of its current cycle, the Real Estate Roundtable reported.

By Patricia Kirk

Industrial developers in coastal U.S. markets are cashing in on the extraordinarily high demand by small businesses for for-sale modern warehouse facilities of between 25,000 and 40,000 sq. ft.

The Appraisal Institute, the nation’s largest professional association of real estate appraisers, today announced it has hired Jim Amorin, MAI, SRA, AI-GRS, of Austin, Texas, as its chief executive officer after a nearly year-long search.

“Jim did an outstanding job as acting CEO, and we’re fortunate to have his leadership going forward,” Appraisal Institute President James L. Murrett, MAI, SRA said. “His experience in many Appraisal Institute leadership roles makes him highly qualified for this position, and I look forward to continuing to work with him.”

The Federal Housing Finance Agency extended the public comment period for the Agency's proposed rule on Enterprise Capital Requirements by an additional 60 days, citing "high level of interest in the proposed rule and requests from multiple stakeholders for more time to evaluate it."

The previous deadline for comments was September 17; the new deadline is November 16.

President Trump on July 31 signed legislation that extends the National Flood Insurance Program by four months — until Nov. 30, the White House reported. The extension gives lawmakers a small window to craft a longer-term extension for the program, which is underfunded by about $20 billion.

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Written by Patricia Kirk

While new office construction has been robust so far in 2018, next year developers might begin pulling back, according to David Bitner, head of Americas capital markets research with real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield. He cites rising construction costs, concerns about the end of the real estate cycle and zoning issues as the reasons.

Craig M. Harrington, SRA, AI-RRS, of Prior Lake, Minnesota; and Leslie P. Sellers, MAI, SRA, AI-GRS, of Clinton, Tennessee, were honored Tuesday with the Appraisal Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award and Timothy P. Runde, MAI, of San Francisco, was named the recipient of the Outstanding Service Award during the Appraisal Institute Annual Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.

Two individuals also were announced as winners of the annual President’s Award from the Appraisal Institute, the nation’s largest professional association of real estate appraisers with nearly 18,000 professionals in almost 50 countries. Additionally, eight individuals were honored by the Appraisal Institute Education and Relief Foundation, the Appraisal Institute’s charitable organization that offers education scholarships and disaster assistance to appraisers.

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (July 30, 2018) – More than 550 real estate professionals from around the world today attended the opening session of the valuation profession’s most important annual event, hosted by the Appraisal Institute, the nation’s largest professional association of real estate appraisers.

The 2018 Appraisal Institute Annual Conference, being held at the downtown JW Marriott Nashville today through Wednesday, features world-renowned keynote speakers, nearly 30 breakout sessions on trend-setting valuation topics, networking opportunities for industry professionals, an exhibit hall featuring cutting-edge products and services, and an awards ceremony honoring the valuation profession’s best and brightest.

Written by Michael Tucker

Commercial real estate asset prices have "plateaued" and transaction volume has moderated as the real estate cycle matures, reported Green Street Advisors, Newport Beach, Calif., and CoStar, Washington, D.C.

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.

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