Appraisals

The House of Representatives passed two bills that would tie appraisal waivers for Small Business Administration loans to bank rules for commercial real estate loans, despite objections from the Appraisal Institute about its members being cut out of transactions.

Freddie Mac produced modest second-quarter results, reflecting a stabilizing business that CEO Donald Layton compared to a utility company.

In a bid to cut time and costs from the mortgage process, Fannie Mae is testing whether appraisers can accurately determine a home's value without actually visiting the property.

The removal of costly appraisal requirements on tens of thousands of smaller commercial properties could help community banks better compete for loans they say they have been losing to nonbank lenders.

If Freddie Mac's credit-risk transfer activities continue to grow, mortgage lenders could eventually see a reduction in the guarantee fees they pay to the government-sponsored enterprise, according to CEO Donald Layton.

Home values grew during 2017 at their fastest pace in four years and the same supply and demand dynamics behind that increase remain in place for 2018.

As housing demand continues to challenge low levels of supply, home prices are overvalued in 34% of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas, according to CoreLogic.