Originally published on February 1, 2023, by Jeff Cox for CNBC.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point and gave little indication it is nearing the end of this hiking cycle.
 
Aligning with market expectations, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee boosted the federal funds rate by 0.25 percentage point. That takes it to a target range of 4.5%-4.75%, the highest since October 2007.

Originally published on January 25, 2023, by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network on Jan. 25 sent an alert to financial institutions warning them to look out for potential commercial real estate purchases made by Russian investors who have been sanctioned. FinCEN specifically warned against vulnerabilities based on a review of the Banking Secrecy Act.

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Originally published on January 15, 2023 by Randy Fuchs for Boxwood Means.

The total market dollar value of small-cap CRE rose marginally in 2022 headlined by a shift in opportunity and risk for investors and lenders. Though the market’s total equity valuation in December testifies to this domain’s inherent resilience, sinking deal volume, decelerating prices and rising cap rates over the second half of the year curbed the market’s considerable expansion following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Originally published by Christine Stricker on January 20, 2023 for ATTOM.

Originally published on January 25, 2023 by the White House.

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing new actions to increase fairness in the rental market and further principles of fair housing. These actions align with a new Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights that the Administration is also releasing today. The Blueprint lays out a set of principles to drive action by the federal government, state and local partners, and the private sector to strengthen tenant protections and encourage rental affordability.

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Originally published on January 25, 2023 by the Appraisal Subcommittee. 

Appraisal Institute President Craig Steinley, MAI, SRA, AI-GRS, AI-RRS, testified at a Jan. 24 Appraisal Subcommittee hearing on appraisal bias. Steinley told the subcommittee that “As the agencies continue the development of guidelines and regulations that touch on appraisal topics, we offer the resources of AI, including our Designated Members, to assist with the understanding of appraisal standards, appraisal methodology, and appraisal practice.”

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Originally published on January 17, 2023, by Michael Tucker for the Mortgage Banker's Association.

RealPage, Richardson, Texas, said net demand for apartments finished 2022 in negative territory for the first time in years.

Originally published on January 18, 2023, by Yardi Matrix.

The student housing industry is set up for another solid performance in 2023 after record returns last year, according to the latest National Student Housing Report from Yardi® Matrix.

Originally published on Janaury 10, 2023 by Michael Tucker for the Mortgage Banker's Association.

RCLCO, Bethesda, Md., reported master-planned communities–just like the broader U.S. housing market–saw a decline in home sales last year compared to 2021.

Originally published on January 11, 2023, by Li-Ning Huang and Mark Palim for Fannie Mae.

In recent discussions of our economic outlook, we have been asked multiple times why home sales dropped so sharply this past year given a pronounced preference shift among consumers during the pandemic toward single-family housing. Indeed, single-family housing was an unintended beneficiary of the pandemic and its associated policy response. During the pandemic, mortgage rates reached historically low levels, with the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate hovering around 3 percent through the end of 2021. Despite a low inventory-to-sales ratio during this time period by historical standards, as well as rising home prices, both home sales and purchase mortgage originations reached record highs in 2021.1 Anecdotal and analytical evidence suggest that the pandemic prompted people to move from smaller housing units in high-density city centers to larger homes in lower-density areas; and this was particularly true of first-time homebuyers.2 Overall, the rise in home sales was fueled by both first-time homebuyers and move-up buyers. In fact, demand was so strong that the median number of days that homes were on the market shortened from 74 in 2017 to 46 in 2021.

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Originally published on January 10, 2023, by Michael Tucker for the Mortgage Banker's Association.

The grocery sector continues to show impressive resilience despite inflation, supply-chain issues and labor shortages, reported Placer.ai, Los Altos, Calif.

Originally published on December 23, 2022, by James Kleimann by the Housing Wire.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) isn’t doing all that it can to prevent appraisal bias, according to the agency’s Office of Inspector General.

Originally published on January 11, 2023 by Congress.gov.

President Biden on Dec. 27 signed HR 7735, the Improving Access to the VA Home Loan Benefit Act of 2022, which streamlines the valuation process for U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs mortgage loans by allowing desktop appraisals and appraisal waivers in some situations. Critics have complained that the VA home buying process can be unnecessarily slow due to appraisals having to be handled in-house.

Originally published in Janaury 2023 by the Farmers National Company.

Demand for farmland has resulted in both record sales and land values, which are up 20-34% year-over-year, according to a Kansas City Federal Reserve report, Farmers National Company reported Jan. 6. Sales volume totaled $766 million in 2022, beating the record $750 million set in 2021. The outlook for 2023 shows continued strong sales.

Originally published on December 6, 2022, by the IRS.

The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service today issued proposed regulations identifying certain syndicated conservation easement (SCE) transactions as "listed transactions" – abusive tax transactions that must be reported to the IRS.

Fellow NCAI Members,

As the year closes, the North Carolina Chapter of the Appraisal Institute celebrates a great 2022! I would like to start with some thanks: Thank you to the NCAI Executive Committee – Jim, Mike, Kelli, and the Board of Directors – your support has allowed me to implement new ideas to help benefit the Chapter. Thanks to all our Region V Representatives that made themselves available not just for the quarterly meetings, but also for several special meetings this year. Thank you to our Chapter Members. Thank you to Efird Appraisals for being an annual sponsor this year. And a final thank you goes out to Sandy Hower and THM for their excellence in executive management and administration.

On December 1, 65+ members & guests celebrated at the 2022 2022 J. Scott Robinson Installation Ceremony & Q4 Chapter Business Meeting held at the Foundation for the Carolinas in Charlotte.

Vanessa Hall, MAI gave her final address as the 2022 President and the 2023 officers were installed, including incoming President, Jim Lynch, MAI. Members mixed and mingled, enjoyed food and drinks and free professional headshots, and purchased raffle tickets to help raise money for the NC Chapter PAC – with Chris Johnson, MAI, SRA, AI-GRS, ASA winning the raffle drawing! PAC funds go towards the Chapter’s efforts to broaden our outreach and influence in Raleigh to advocate on behalf of appraisers, taking positions and working with legislators toward favorable results for the industry. The event also highlighted the most recent members who received designations in 2022 including Keith P. Bolte, Jr., MAI (MAI designation); Erica L. Butler, MAI (MAI designation); Eric L. Randall, SRA (SRA Designation); and Jamie L. Vogel, SRA (SRA Designation).

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• Ernest Christopher Alford, III
• Kandis Joy Alston
• David M. Aneser
• Thabbit Todd Azar
• Jack Branch
• Robert B Chadwick
• Michael Todd Cromer
• Andrew Cypcar
• Marcia Dixon
• Roy Lee Fulcher, III
• Richard E. Glidewell
• Angie Green
• Lindsay L Green
• Rhonda Hall
• Olivia Hamilton
• Torrance Ray Harrell
• Kate Hicks
• Kimberly Hines
• Barry Grant Hitchner, Jr.
• Lauren Elizabeth Hobbs
• Thomas Hunter Howell
• Mohamed S Ibrahim
• Walker Taylor Jones
• Peter J. Kapetanakis
• Nicholas Kirkland
• Kirstin A Kramlich
• Natalie Fields Lathan
• Monica S. Long
• Joshua Ray Marr
• Jesse A. Martinez
• Morgan Taylor Maske
• Rashad Lee McEntire
• Thomas C. Mills
• Jackye Morla
• W. Chris Morris
• Linda Gail Nelson
• Zachary Northcott
• Jere S Pelletier
• John Stephen Proctor, III
• Paula Rozer
• Todd H Seibert
• Jessica Marie Smith
• Sharon Sweeney
• Cynthia P Thomas
• Dana Vickers
• Tunisia Whitaker
• David Wortman, Jr.

Originally published on December 8, 2022, by Andrea Neculae for RentCafe.com.

So, to fully grasp how much adaptive reuse had grown in recent years, we compared the latest figures to the rate of growth in traditional new apartment construction. Our analysis shows that adaptive reuse apartments were growing faster than new apartments — 25% versus 10% — during the same timeframe.

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Originally published on December 6, 2022, by Stephanie Pagan and Elizabeth Thompson for the National Association of Home Builders.

The big jump in single-family home building activity that occurred in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic in large metro outlying counties and exurban areas has shown a marked decline over the past 12 months, according to the latest findings from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) for the third quarter of 2022.