HUD ANNOUNCES NEW FHA LOAN LIMITS FOR 2019
Loan limits to increase in more than 3,000 counties

WASHINGTON – The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) today announced the agency’s new schedule of loan limits for 2019, with most areas in the country to experience an increase in loan limits in the coming year. These loan limits are effective for FHA case numbers assigned on or after January 1, 2019.

• Read FHA’s Mortgagee Letter on 2019 Forward Mortgage Limits.
• Read FHA’s Mortgagee Letter on 2019 Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) Limits.

Department of Veterans Affairs

Washington, D.C. 20420

Circular 26-18-29

December 11, 2018

Market Conditions Addendum to VA Appraisal

1. Purpose. The purpose of this Circular is to announce that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) no longer requires appraisers to include Fannie Mae Form 1004MC, in all VA appraisal reports.
2. Background. Due to current conditions in the real estate market, Fannie Mae eliminated additional appraisal requirements to supplement the minimum standards set forth in the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. Specifically, Fannie Mae no longer requires appraisers to document an overview of neighborhood market conditions and trends in using Fannie Mae Form 1004MC. Reporting market trend activity will remain an important undertaking for appraisers and they will continue to do so even without the requirement to complete Form 1004MC.
3. Action. Effective immediately, VA no longer requires appraisers to include this form in all VA appraisal reports. However, the market trend information is still required within the appraisal reports.
4. Questions. All inquiries should be sent to colenders@vba.va.gov.
5. Rescission. This Circular is rescinded January 1, 2020. By Direction of the Under Secretary for Benefits

CHICAGO (Dec. 4, 2018) – The nation’s largest professional association of real estate appraisers joined 17 other organizations Monday in saying it “strongly opposed” the National Credit Union Administration’s plan to reduce the number of non-residential real estate loans requiring appraisals.

The Appraisal Institute said it opposed the NCUA’s proposal to quadruple – from $250,000 to $1 million – the appraisal threshold for non-residential real estate loans. The appraisal threshold is the loan amount below which appraisals are not required. Increasing the threshold would drastically increase the number of non-residential real estate loans that would not require an appraisal.

Saying it was “deeply concerned,” the Appraisal Institute’s letter cautioned the NCUA that its proposal could recreate conditions that led to the housing market meltdown of the late 2000s. “The proposed rule is written purely through the lens of regulatory relief – not safety and soundness. It ignores the fact that the United States suffered through a financial crisis less than a decade ago,” the letter said. “If anything, the current market conditions beg for heightened due diligence by regulated institutions today – not a loosening of a fundamental risk management activity. “

The Appraisal Institute’s letter noted that the federal banking regulatory agencies – the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Reserve Board – earlier this year approved increasing the commercial appraisal threshold from $250,000 to $500,000.

“We are deeply concerned the NCUA proposal, if finalized at $1 million for commercial real estate transactions, will result in a regulatory ‘arms race’ between the Agencies and the NCUA,” the letter said. “This would result in the NCUA – the agency with the least direct experience in overseeing business and commercial real estate lending – effectively driving the appraisal policies for the entire financial regulatory system.”

The Appraisal Institute and the other groups also noted that legislation adopted this year by the U.S. House (and awaiting action by the Senate) would link commercial appraisal threshold levels for two of the U.S. Small Administration’s most popular loan programs to those established by the federal banking regulatory agencies. “This (NCUA) proposal will likely impact not just credit unions and banks, but SBA lenders and risks associated with SBA loans,” the letter said.

The NCUA did not propose changes to the appraisal threshold for residential loans. “We support the NCUA’s proposal to maintain the $250,000 threshold level for residential real estate transactions,” the letter said.

Also signing the Appraisal Institute’s letter to the NCUA were:

• Appraisers’ Coalition of Washington
• Coalition of Appraisers of Nevada
• Coalition of Pennsylvania Real Estate Appraisers
• Collateral Risk Network
• Illinois Coalition of Appraisal Professionals
• Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Coalition
• Mississippi Coalition of Appraisers
• National Association of Appraisers
• New York Coalition of Appraiser Professionals
• North Dakota Appraisers Association
• Professional Appraisers Association of South Dakota
• Real Estate Appraisers Association
• Real Estate Appraisers of Southern Arizona
• Rhode Island Real Estate Appraiser Association
• South Carolina Professional Appraisers Coalition
• Tennessee Appraiser Coalition
• Utah Coalition of Appraisal Professionals.

Read the letter.

~ Note from Bryan @ Appraiser Income, we need to get involved, please send emails!!!!! I have included the emails below:

• E-mail: regs.comments@occ.treas.gov.  Include in subject line: “Docket ID OCC-2018-0038 and RIN 3064-AE87 – Real Estate Appraisals”
• E-mail: regs.comments@federalreserve.gov. Include in subject line: “Docket ID OCC-2018-0038 and RIN 3064-AE87 – Real Estate Appraisals”
• E-mail: Comments@FDIC.gov. Include in subject line: “Docket ID OCC-2018-0038 and RIN 3064-AE87 – Real Estate Appraisals”

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) today issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to raise the threshold for residential real estate transactions requiring an appraisal to $400,000. This proposal is in response to concerns raised about the time and cost associated with completing residential real estate transactions.

The FDIC believes raising this threshold for residential real estate transactions from the current level of $250,000, last increased in 1994, could provide meaningful burden relief from the appraisal requirements, without posing a threat to the safety and soundness of financial institutions.

Rather than requiring an appraisal, the proposal would require that residential real estate transactions exempted by the threshold obtain an evaluation consistent with safe and sound banking practices. Evaluations provide an estimate of the market value of real estate but could be less burdensome than appraisals because the FDIC’s appraisal regulations do not require evaluations to be prepared by state licensed or certified appraisers. In addition, evaluations are typically less detailed and costly than appraisals. Evaluations have been required for transactions exempted from the appraisal requirement by the current residential threshold since the 1990s.

This proposal responds, in part, to comments that the current exemption level for residential transactions had not kept pace with price appreciation in the residential real estate market. These comments were received during the recent Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act review process and during the rulemaking process that led to a final rule, issued in April 2018, which raised the appraisal threshold for commercial real estate transactions from $250,000 to $500,000.

The proposal also would incorporate the rural residential appraisal exemption in the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act to the list of exempt transactions and require evaluations for these exempt transactions. In addition, the proposal would require institutions to appropriately review appraisals for compliance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, as mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Comments will be accepted for 60 days from publication in the Federal Register.

Push to Cut Back on Home Appraisals Sparks Controversy – Chicago Tribune

Plan to Reduce Human Appraisals May Lead to ‘Wildly Inaccurate’ Estimates

~ Note from Bryan @ Appraiser Income, we need to get involved, please send emails!!!!! I have included the emails below:

Please send comments:

• E-mail: regs.comments@occ.treas.gov .  Include in subject line: “Docket ID OCC-2018-0038 and RIN 3064-AE87 – Real Estate Appraisals”
• E-mail: regs.comments@federalreserve.gov . Include in subject line: “Docket ID OCC-2018-0038 and RIN 3064-AE87 – Real Estate Appraisals”
• E-mail: Comments@FDIC.gov . Include in subject line: “Docket ID OCC-2018-0038 and RIN 3064-AE87 – Real Estate Appraisals”