Fannie and Freddie what’s in store for them?

Fannie and Freddie what’s in store for them?

There were more questions raised than answers provided about the future of government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie and Freddie and their continued role in the secondary mortgage market at the Regulatory Issues Forum Friday during the 2012 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in Orlando.

Today, the GSEs have too much market share, said Timothy J. Mayopoulos, Fannie Mae president and CEO, who spoke at the session. However, as he pointed out, “More than four years after the financial crisis, we see little private capital available to meet the demand for single-family housing.”

Lenders are very reluctant to engage in home loans now because of concerns such as potential repurchase requests and regulatory uncertainty. Mayopoulos acknowledged that more transparency is needed around these issues to coax private capital back into mortgage lending.

Mayopoulos and Dr. Wanda DeLeo, deputy director of the FHFA—which currently holds Fannie and Freddie in conservator-ship—and another presenter at the forum, said there’s a broad consensus about what needs to be accomplished over the next few years with respect to the GSEs. A new secondary mortgage market infrastructure needs to be created, the GSEs’ share of the market needs to be reduced, and home owners in distress need to be helped, they explained.

To that last point, Fannie continues to explore new ways to assist borrowers, Mayopoulos said. For instance, to speed up short sales, his organization recently instituted a 60-day deadline for short-sale decisions from lenders. Fannie also waives documentation for hardship in some cases.

However, an agreement on a specific plan for creating a new secondary mortgage market and shrinking the GSEs’ share of home loans has not been reached. Mayopoulos demurred on a question about whether Fannie and Freddie would eventually be phased out and how that might impact mortgage lending.

“We’re in a time when we have to have a debate about what the secondary mortgage market is going to look like, but I’m going to leave that debate to the policymakers,” he said.

Still, whatever happens to Fannie and Freddie and the secondary mortgage market, Mayopoulos expressed a hope that the valuable services those institutions deliver—such as setting standards and making home ownership more accessible for millions of Americans—would be integral to whatever system replaces them.

“This system should not be too big to fail, but it should be big enough to matter,” he said.

—Brian Summerfield, REALTOR® Magazine

Succeed in Commercial Real Estate as a Residential Broker

Succeed in Commercial Real Estate as a Residential Broker

Looking at residential agents breaking into commercial real estate, David J. Murphy, senior vice president of CBRE Inc., sought to dispel the myth that to Succeed in Commercial Real Estate was an intimidating venture. Instead, Murphy insisted that residential agents’ strong sales skills provide enough of a foundation for success, so long as they differentiate within their market, understand their unique niche, and build a strong personal brand. Beyond that, the job requires passion and discipline as well as a mental toughness during those inevitable times when deals fall through.

“You’ve got to be like Mr. Miyagi if you’re going to Succeed in Commercial Real Estate,” Murphy said. “You’ve got to focus.”

According to Murphy’s Nov. 9 presentation at the REALTORS® Conference & Expo in Orlando, Fla., the first step to getting started and to Succeed in Commercial Real Estate is to sell yourself as a promising REALTOR®. Because few companies advertise for commercial real estate professionals, in order to begin your commercial career, you must create your spot within a firm and convince management that you’re worthy of the task.

Once hired, decide on what submarket you will serve — for instance, medical buildings in central Florida — and learn everything about that submarket, or “farming area,” by familiarizing yourself with tenants and cataloging properties.

“People want to work with someone who is ingratiated and who understands the market,” Murphy said.

Murphy suggested taking a drive around the neighborhood to discover properties you might be able to sell. The whole room chuckled when he described his experience as a young broker, pulling up to the back parking lot of countless industrial buildings, and asking workers on their cigarette breaks about the property. “You know that person isn’t going anywhere for the length of that cigarette,” he added, before stressing the importance of developing your own technique in order to find potential sales.

After your first deal has been made, it’s essential to alert prospective clients about your achievement. Murphy suggested hand-signed postcards. “Clients save that stuff,” he explained, “and it’s the little things that will make the difference for you.”

Outlining the noteworthy particulars of a deal — assuming client approval — also allows prospective customers to know that you’re not just a “random facilitator” trying to make a commission but that “you want to sincerely add value,” he said. “If you have the metrics about how you’ve added value, share that with them.”

But this desire to add value is all part of the passion Murphy emphasized as being integral to Succeed in Commercial Real Estate. “This is a brutally tough business,” Murphy said. “It will rip your heart out if you’re not into it.”

— Melissa Kandel, REALTOR® Magazine

Mortgage Delinquencies Reverse Course, Inch Up

Mortgage Delinquencies Reverse Course, Inch Up

More Americans were late on their mortgage payments in September, as the national mortgage delinquency rate rose to its largest increase in four years, according to Lender Processing Services’ September Mortgage Monitor report.

The national mortgage delinquency rate increased 7.7 percent in September from August.

Despite the uptick, mortgage delinquencies are still 30 percent lower than the peak levels reached in January 2010.

The states with the highest “non-current loans” are:

• Florida
• Mississippi
• New Jersey
• Nevada
• Louisiana

The states with the lowest number of non-current loans are:

• Montana
• Alaska
• South Dakota
• Wyoming
• North Dakota

Source: “September Mortgage Delinquencies Higher: LPS,” HousingWire (Nov. 8, 2012)

Americans Get More Confident About Home Buying

Americans Get More Confident About Home Buying

The percentage of Americans who have been waiting to buy a home over concerns about the economy has dropped by more than half since 2010, a new survey by FindLaw.com says.

Sixty-three percent of Americans surveyed said in 2010 that they were putting off home buying decisions because of the sluggish economy. In 2012, the percentage has dropped to 30 percent.

“Two years ago, the economic situation was driving a lot of potential home buyers to the sidelines,” says Stephanie Rahlfs, an attorney and editor with FindLaw.com. “But today we’re finding that the state of the economy is becoming less of a factor in keeping people out of the housing market.”

Many more factors are driving home buying decisions today, regardless of the state of the economy, Rahlfs adds. For example, she says home buying motivators can be income, housing prices, schools, commute times, job relocation’s, mortgage rates, and the ability to sell an existing home.

“Among middle and upper income levels Americans, we’re seeing a significant rise in people saying the economy is making them more likely to enter the housing market,” Rahlfs says, attributing that to the low mortgage rates and housing prices.

Source: “Survey Shows People Becoming More Likely to Participate in the Housing Market,”

Superstorm Sandy’s Damage Extends to Office Sector Values

Superstorm Sandy’s Damage Extends to Office Sector Values

Superstorm Sandy not only damaged residences across the East Coast but also destroyed several office buildings — which is particularly being hard-felt across Manhattan, real estate executives said at the New York University Schack Institute of Real Estate Capital Markets in Real Estate conference. Thousands of downtown Manhattan workers have been unable to return to work after last week’s hit of Superstorm Sandy.

“I think there’s been value erosion downtown,” Howard Lutnick, chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald LPand BGC Partners Inc, said during the conference. “It had just started to come back. The concept now of fear of flooding is going to affect values.”

According to a real estate services company, Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., about one-third of the 101 million square feet of office space in Manhattan was closed, powered by generators, or had no heat due to the flooding caused by Superstorm Sandy. The prolonged closures to these offices has likely taken a bite out of the property values, says Darcy Stacom, CBRE Group Incvice chairman.

“Will investors think about this when they look at buildings in hard-hit areas by Superstorm Sandy? Yes,” Stacom says.

Source: “Big Real Estate Investors Say Sandy Hurts Lower Manhattan Values,” Reuters News (Nov. 7, 2012)

Mortgage Demand Falls After Sandy

Mortgage Demand Falls After Sandy

Applications for home loans purchases and refinancing dropped 5 percent last week as tropical storm Sandy ravaged the East Coast and disrupted normal business activity, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday.

Due to the severe storms, mortgage application demand posted the big falls in New Jersey, where applications fell 60 percent last week. In New York, mortgage demand dropped nearly 50 percent, and nearly 40 percent in Connecticut.

The storm had “a significant impact on application volumes in the East,” says Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of research and economics.

Meanwhile, other states in other parts of the country continue to show gains in mortgage demand last week, Fratantoni said.

Source: “U.S. Mortgage Applications Down as Sandy Hit Northeast,” Reuters (Nov. 7, 2012)