Originally published on February 16, 2023 by Michael Tucker for the Mortgage Banker's Association.

Originally published on February 16, 2023 by Thomas Malone for CoreLogic.

Quick Takes:

Originally published on February 17, 2023 by the Appraisal Institute.

The Appraisal Institute on Feb. 17 premiered season 2 of its monthly podcast series, Face Value. Hosts Warren Boizot, SRA, AI-RRS, and Tonia Vailas, MAI, AI-GRS, talk with President Craig Steinley, MAI, SRA, AI-GRS, AI-RRS, and President-Elect Sandy Adomatis, SRA, about the year ahead, project updates and how AI is helping residential appraisers.

Originally published on February 9, 2023 by Troy Green for the National Association of Realtors.

Approximately nine out of 10 metro markets registered home price gains in the fourth quarter of 2022 despite mortgage rates eclipsing 7%, according to the National Association of Realtors®’ latest quarterly report. Eighteen percent of the 186 tracked metro areas registered double-digit price increases over the same time period, down from 46% in the third quarter of 2022.

Originally published by Caitlin Groves on February 8, 2023 for MBA Newslink.

MISMO®, the real estate finance industry standards organization, issued a call for industry professionals to join a new Development Workgroup focused on developing APIs for MISMO’s Commercial datasets.

Originally published by Jacob Channel on February 6,2023 for LendingTree.

Though it may sometimes seem as if millennials are destined to rent or live in their parent’s basements forever, they make up the largest share of homebuyers in the U.S., surpassing older (and richer) generations. In fact, millennials have dominated the housing market for the past decade.

Originally published on January 31, 2023, by Stephanie Pagan for the National Association of Home Builders.

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 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 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 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 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.