Congress members and National Association of Realtors teamed up to put pressure on Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson to finalize the rules regarding condos and Federal Housing Administration loan approval. Members of both parties, include 54 Senators and 120 members of the House of Representatives, signed a letter asking Carson to get a move on and finalize the rules in H.R. 3700.
Congress passed H.R. 3700, which made changes to rules that restrict FHA loan approval for condos, back in July 2016. Nearly two years later, with Carson dragging his feet on setting these rules in stone, the industry, Senate and House have had it up to here.
“For nearly two years, Realtors have pushed the Department of Housing and Urban Development to finalize its rule streamlining and simplifying the process of securing a condominium loan. Thanks to the support of 120 Congressmen and more than half of all U.S. Senators, affordable homeownership opportunities could soon become available to countless additional Americans. NAR commends Sen. Tim Scott and Bob Menendez and Representatives Bill Posey and Emanuel Cleaver for their leadership on this issue, and we look forward to working with HUD to finalize this rule,” NAR President Elizabeth Mendenhall said in a statement.
NAR was involved in rounding up support for this initiative, helping to round up the 54 Senators and 120 House members that signed the letter calling for action.
The letter expresses its authors’ displeasure with the FHA restrictions on the purchase and sale of condos. The authors cite these restrictions as an affront to affordability and decry them as a stymieing force on industry growth.
H.R. 3700’s proposed new rules include spot loan (a loan to purchase a single unit in a multi-unit building) approval, reductions to certification requirements, and changes to the owner-occupancy ratio, which NAR says will make condos a viable option for more homebuyers.
It remains to be seen how Carson will respond to the immense pressure from the industry and bipartisan forces in Congress.
To read the letters from Congress in full, click here.
Glassdoor, the workspace-satisfaction ratings website, recently announced the winners of its Employees’ Choice Award, including seven housing market titans.
The Employees’ Choice Award is an annual report honoring top U.S. and European CEOs. Housing market CEOs appearing on Glassdoor’s top 100 list include Sheryl Morrison, Jon Davis, Anant Yardi, Jonathan Corr, Pierre Nanterme, Robert Sulentic and Bob Faith.
Employees were able to rate several factors about their employment experience by submitting anonymous and voluntary reviews to Glassdoor, which gaged workplace satisfaction and CEO approval.
“Winning a Glassdoor Top CEO award is a true acknowledgement of exceptional leadership, as it reflects the opinions of the employees who work with a chief executive every day,” Glassdoor co-founder and CEO Robert Hohman.
Leading the pack: Ellie Mae’s Jonathan Corr is 14 on the list, receiving a 96% employee approval rating. Corr’s company is no stranger to praise, Ellie Mae was named a San Francisco Business Times Best Place to Work and was one of Fortune’s 100 Fastest Growing Companies in 2017.
Taylor Morrison CEO Sheryl Palmer is number 19 on the list, receiving a 96% approval rating. This is outstanding since among the 770,000 companies reviewed on Glassdoor, the average CEO approval rating is 69.
Jon Davis of Keller Williams is number 30 and has an employee approval rating of 95%. Davis’employees commend him on his ability to create a fun working environment.
Anant Yardi, CEO of Yardi Systems has a 93% approval rating, ranking number 53 on the list. Earlier this year, Yardi systems announced the debut of a new research function in its Matrix solution, the company’s comprehensive multifamily market intelligence tool.Pierre Nanterme of Accenture, a HousingWire tech 100 winner, is number 57 on the list and has a 93% approval rating. In 2018 and 2012, Accenture was named one of Glassdoor’s best work satisfaction companies.
Robert Sulentic, CEO of CBRE is number 63 on the list and has an employee approval rating of 93%. Sulentic’s employees say, that the company is a great place to begin a career and it has cultivated an environment that truly values its workers
Bob Faith, of Greystar is number 86 on the list, averaging a 91% employee approval rating. Earlier this year, Greystar initiated funding for a $500 million debt fund, focused on acquiring subordinated and securitized debt issued by the government sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
“The best CEOs are inspiring, trustworthy, innovative and can be great motivators for people to bring their best selves to work,” Hohman said.
Winning a spot on the Glassdoor’s Top 100 CEO list, imply the employees of each of these industry leaders see those traits come to life.
Savannah, Ga., area homes sales continue to feverishness adult relocating into a summer month’s violation annals in both Apr and May.
According to information recently expelled by Savannah Multi-List Corp., 691 homes sole opposite Bryan, Chatham and Effingham counties in Apr and 790 homes sole opposite that same area in May; both months were a tip on record given during slightest 2013.
Inventory for Apr strike 4.57 months and afterwards dipped to 4 months in May. Local register has depressed any month this year and a healthy and offset marketplace typically hovers around 5 to 6 months.
“This year has been implausible for a lot of people,” pronounced Janet Howard, boss of a Savannah Area Realtors, a internal attention group.
“Even yet we sole 790 homes during a month of May, we would unequivocally like to see a register increase. That’s where we see a biggest regard since a miss of register is where we get into towering prices and supply and direct comes into play.”
Howard advises buyers that being inconclusive or reluctant to concede on certain facilities can forestall them from snagging a residence in a stream market.
“If you’re looking during creation a preference faster some compromises might have to be made,” she said.
Both Apr and May sum sales volume also strike 6 year highs with sum sales for Apr bringing in $172,491,662, an boost of $25,496,049 compared to Apr 2016. The bulk of Apr sales were done in a Richmond Hill area, that brought in only underneath $25 million in sales. Skidaway Island and downtown Savannah dull out a tip 3 with $19.6 million and $17.3 million in sales, respectively.
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The many homes were also sole in Richmond Hill during Apr with 88; followed by Georgetown with 74; and Pooler, 61.
Sales volume in May brought in $192,637,363 in sum sales. Richmond Hill again had a many sales volume bringing in $30,429,145. Guyton with $19.5 million and Georgetown with $17.6 million dull out a tip 3 spots.
During May a many homes sole in Richmond Hill with 113 followed by Georgetown with 94 and Guyton with 87 homes sold.
After vocalization with associate Realtor, Kelly Johnson of Remax Accent in Richmond Hill, Howard pronounced a peculiarity of education, some-more affordable homes nearby waterways and lots of new construction are large draws for a area.
“They have a unequivocally good village feel and that’s is what’s unequivocally appealing to people,” she said.
“The waterfront is some-more affordable than in Chatham County and they still have that coastal feel and we can means more.”
Looking during a marketplace overall, a singular register can meant it’s a sellers market, though no matter that side of a marketplace you’re on or where we live, Howard recommends relocating quick and reaching out to a Realtor. Realtors have an advantage to be means to strech out to sellers even if their register was removed, that infrequently can lead to a new and astonishing sale, she said.
“Clearly operative with a Realtor gives we that advantage. They can demeanour during what was on a marketplace and find out because it was pulled off, either it didn’t sell a approach (the seller) wanted it to or they altered their mind. A Realtor can strech out to a homeowner on a (buyer’s) interest and negotiate something like that,” she said.
“We are approachable, we do have entrance and we are means to negotiate on their interest and be means to assistance them with their largest financial transaction. we wish that as people are creation a preference to immigrate or ascent that they call a Realtor and concede us to assistance them.”
Home sales opposite a nation fell in Apr after augmenting for dual months in a row. According to a National Association of Realtors, expansion was prosaic in all 4 vital regions of a U.S. in April.
“The base means of a underneath behaving sales activity in most of a nation so distant this year continues to be a complete miss of accessible listings on a marketplace to accommodate a clever direct for shopping a home,” Lawrence Yun, NAR arch economist, pronounced in a group’s monthly report.
“Realtors contend a healthy economy and pursuit marketplace are gripping buyers in a marketplace for now even as they face rising debt rates. However, register shortages are even worse than in new years, and home prices keep climbing above what many home shoppers are means to afford.”
According to a report, existing-home sales in a South decreased 2.9% to an annual rate of 2.33 million in April, though are still 2.2% above a year ago.
Sales fell opposite a nation again in May, NAR reported on Wednesday. Only a northeast segment saw an uptick in activity.
“Closings were down in a infancy of a nation final month and declined on an annual basement in any vital region,” Yun said.
“Incredibly low supply continues to be a primary snag to some-more sales, though there’s no doubt a multiple of aloft prices and debt rates are pinching a budgets of impending buyers, and eventually gripping some from reaching a market.”
Existing-home sales in a South fell 0.4% to an annual rate of 2.32 million in May, and are unvaried from a year ago.
