CREF Highlights: MBA National Advocacy Conference

Attendees at MBA’s National Advocacy Conference last week heard directly from Representatives Terri Sewell, D-Ala., and Sean Duffy, R-Wisc.–both  House Financial Services Committee members –and Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. and Jon Tester D-Mont. of the Senate Banking Committee. HUD Secretary Julián Castro and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report also spoke. Each speaker shared their perspectives on the policy and political agendas impacting real estate finance.

MBA once again offered a separate Capitol Hill advocacy track for commercial/multifamily members, providing an opportunity to interface with senior congressional staffers, Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., and Senators Mike Rounds,  R-S.D. and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D..

For more information, contact Brad Cheney at bcheney@mba.org or Annie Gawkowski at agawkowski@mba.org. 

MBA Hosts the FHA Lenders Roundtable
On April 12, MBA held the Spring FHA Lenders Roundtable at the National Advocacy Conference for 56 FHA Multifamily and Healthcare executives and production leaders from 34 MBA member firms.

Members met with HUD Deputy Assistant Secretaries Priya Jayachandran (Multifamily) and Roger Miller (Healthcare) as well as their key staff. MBA FHA Committee Chair Bob Warren (Wells Fargo) led the discussion on several important topics, including the need to update environmental requirements for transit-oriented developments serving as affordable and workforce resources, the new Mortgage Insurance Premiums for affordable and energy efficient properties and the strong performance of the FHA Multifamily and Healthcare portfolios.

Presentations from the meeting will be shared with MBA FHA Committee members.

For more information, contact Eileen Grey at egrey@mba.org.

SEC Publishes FINRA Notice on Proposed Margining Rule Amendment
The SEC published a Notice in the Federal Register on April 15 seeking comments on FINRA’s proposed rule on margining (Rule 4210) that would affect agency multifamily securities.  This release, similar to the prior version published by the SEC and FINRA, adopts MBA’s key recommendations. This proposal (Amendment No. 2) adopts additional technical comments offered by MBA. Comments are due to the SEC on May 2.

For further information, contact Eileen Grey at egrey@mba.org. 

Federal Reserve Releases its April 2016 Beige Book
On April 13, the Federal Reserve released its April 2016 Beige Book, which provides a canvas of economic conditions, including real estate, for the twelve Federal Reserve Districts. Construction and real estate activity was reported to have generally expanded in late February and March and Federal Reserve contacts across districts maintained a positive outlook for the rest of the year. Additionally multifamily construction remained strong in most districts.

The Beige Book also reported that commercial real estate activity generally increased, with leasing activity and rents rising in many districts. Particularly strong leasing was noted in retailing in Chicago and in the industrial sector in Dallas. Vacancy rates generally either moved lower or were unchanged.

For more information contact George Green at ggreen@mba.org.

Mortgage Bankers’ Commercial/Multifamily Originations Rise to Near-Record $504 Billion in 2015
Commercial and multifamily mortgage bankers closed $503.8 billion of loans in 2015 according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s 2015 Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance Annual Origination Volume Summation. 

Commercial bank portfolios were the leading capital source in 2015, responsible for $138.6 billion of the total. Commercial mortgage-backed securities saw the second-highest volume, $99.4 billion, and were followed by life insurance companies and pension funds; Freddie Mac; Fannie Mae; and mortgage real estate investment trustsand investment funds. In terms of property types, multifamily properties saw the highest origination volume, $201.7 billion, followed by office buildings, retail properties, hotel/motel, industrial and health care. First liens accounted for 97 percent of the total dollar volume closed.

The report is available for purchase here.

For more information, contact Jamie Woodwell at jwoodwell@mba.org.