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In this Issue |
December 2019 Edition |
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State News & EventsLegislative Update |
 Dear WMBA Members, It’s hard to believe we are at the end of another year. All signs are pointing to another busy and exciting year in our industry for 2020. Our association has several events coming up in the near future. Please visit the website often http://wimba.org/home to keep up to date on the education and networking opportunities in your area. Save the dates of April 22nd and 23rd for our largest event for the year, The 46th Annual Real Estate & Finance Conference at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Downtown Milwaukee. Thank you for being a WMBA member. Please let me know if I can help in any way. Best regards,  Leo Spanuello WMBA President 2019-2020 Regional Mortgage Sales Manager North Shore Bank lspanuello@northshorebank.com 262-787-6872 |
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Madison Chapter Updates
Madison Chapter 2019 Holiday Party Highlights
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MADISON CHAPTER UPCOMING EVENTS
March 12, 2020 - Annual Bowling event
March 23, 2020 - Co-sponsoring Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist at the National Association of REALTORS, with RASCW and Madison Metro Women’s Council of Realtors.
May 20, 2020 - Annual Golf event
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac set new date for use of new Uniform Residential Loan Application
December 18, 2019, 6:10 pm By Ben Lane
More than three years ago, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced that they were changing the standard mortgage application form for the first time in 20 years. The companies later dictated that lenders would be required to begin using the new loan application by Feb. 1, 2020.
But that all changed earlier this year when the government-sponsored enterprises delayed the mandatory use of the redesigned Uniform Residential Loan Application at the direction of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
The implementation of the URLA was postponed to an unspecified date in the future, but the GSEs revealed Wednesday a new date for the mandatory the use of the new URLA.
According to the GSEs, lenders will now be required to begin using the new URLA by Nov. 1, 2020.
The move to delay the use of the URLA came at the directive of the FHFA, which ordered the GSEs remove the language preference question and housing counseling information from the updated URLA form, which is the standardized form used by borrowers to apply for a mortgage.
The move was welcomed by the mortgage business, namely the Mortgage Bankers Association, which claimed that the language preference question may cause more problems than it solves.
But not all observers were on board with the changes.
In October, a group of nearly 20 prominent Senate Democrats called on the FHFA to undo the alterations to the URLA, claiming the changes could reduce access to credit for mortgage borrowers who are already underserved.
Under the changes proposed earlier this year by the FHFA, the language preference question and housing counseling information are being moved to separate voluntary forms.
Despite the Democrats’ protestations, the GSEs later rolled out the new mortgage application form without the language preference question and housing counseling information sections, as they were directed to do by the FHFA.
Now, the GSEs are establishing a new date for the mandatory use of the newly redesigned URLA form and laying out a timeline for its implementation.
After a period of testing, lenders may begin using the new URLA form on Sept. 1, 2020. From that date through Oct. 31, 2020, use of the new URLA form is optional.
But after November 1, the use of the new URLA form is mandatory.
If there are any loan applications that were begun on the old form but still unprocessed on November 1, the GSEs will allow those to process, as long as the lender notifies the agencies “as soon as possible.”
After Nov. 1, 2021, the current URLA form will no longer be accepted by the GSEs.
To read the full URLA implementation timeline from the GSEs, click here.
New MBA White Paper Analyzes Commercial Real Estate Market Trends, Outlook
December 10, 2019 |By Mike Sorohan-msorohan@mba.orgThe Mortgage Bankers Association this morning released a new white paper, Where From Here?, which examines current economic trends and commercial/multifamily real estate market conditions and summarizes recent comprehensive data–by property type and capital source–reported by MBA’s research team.
The white paper says low interest rates, steady economic growth and stable market conditions have served as positive tailwinds for the commercial real estate industry in recent years, but the future will likely contain both challenges and opportunities for specific parts of the market and the participants in them
“There’s been a lot of attention paid to what might be ahead for commercial real estate and commercial real estate finance markets, given the uncertainty in the global economy,” said MBA Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell, author of the white paper. “MBA’s white paper is designed to give members and industry stakeholders an overview of what has driven activity in recent years, with a look at what could affect the future. Although there is a connection between CRE and CREF markets and the broader economy, general economic changes may not translate to commensurate changes for the sector.”
The white paper analyzed the following trends that will likely have a continued impact on demand levels and investor activity for different property types (office, multifamily, retail and industrial) and capital sources (banks and thrifts, life insurance companies, CMBS, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, FHA and investor-driven lenders) in commercial real estate:
• Job growth – Years of steady job growth have been a boon to the office market, helping to offset the drag of tenants being more efficient with their use of space. Job gains should remain positive in the coming years, albeit at a slower pace, with the demand for office space following that same trend.
• Rising household formation – Demographic shifts in America will have a significant impact on the overall demand for housing, goods and services, as well as the ways those products are purchased and consumed.
• The health of the consumer – Household balance sheets – in the aggregate – remain healthy, with financial obligations and debt service payments at record low levels. Consumers are in good shape for any potential economic downturn, but changes in consumer sentiment would likely influence the economy and demand for commercial space.
• Low interest rates – Long-term U.S. interest rates are at some of the lowest levels on record, and internationally, some central banks have resorted to negative interest rates. “Lower for longer,” remains the most likely path for interest rates, but commercial real estate investors and lenders will have to contend with where rates are today, with where they might go in coming years.
• The search for yield – Property prices are growing more quickly in secondary and tertiary markets, and investors are increasingly turning to transitional properties in search of higher returns. Perhaps the clearest example of this search for yield is in the CMBS market. In recent years, the credit curve for CMBS bonds has been falling and flattening — meaning investors are willing to take on more risk in a search for yield.
“Throughout the industry, borrowers, lenders and others are working through whether to take today’s market as it is, or to plan for interest rates, property values and loan performance that may be markedly different,” Woodwell said. “No one has the answers to these questions, but the market’s focus on them is changing the complexion of what is being done and how different players are acting.”
For a copy of Where From Here? and other research from MBA’s Commercial/Multifamily team, visit: https://www.mba.org/news-research-and-resources/research-and-economics/commercial/-multifamily-research/industry-articles/industry-articles-from-mba-research.
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