The Federal Reserve Board on July 2 approved a final rule covering most of the Basel III bank regulatory requirements, which will increase the amount of capital banks have to hold in their reserves.
In a victory for the HBA and Home Builders, the final rule contains major improvements over what was proposed last year related to home mortgages. NAHB had urged regulators to shield community banks from overly burdensome capital rules that would have restricted their ability to provide new-home production loans and small business loans. The Fed addressed many of these concerns in posting its final rule.
View a more detailed analysis at NAHB .org by clicking here.
The Home Builders Association of Greenville are your neighbors and community leaders providing education and support for building industry professionals. We create jobs, encourage homeownership, and promote responsible growth throughout the upstate of South Carolina.
Showing posts with label Banks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Banks. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Monday, October 17, 2011
NAHB CEO Jerry Howard speaks out on over regulation of banks and its impact on home building
NAHB CEO Jerry Howard went on the Fox Business Network on September 19 and spoke about the need for bank regulators to recognize that housing is not a national commodity, but a series of local markets. Howard advocated for an appropriate level of regulation based on the housing market at the local level, not the so-called "national" housing market.
Click here to watch Jerry Howard on the Fox Business Network.
Click here to watch Jerry Howard on the Fox Business Network.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Bankers, business leaders say credit crunch is regulators' fault
Testifying this week before the U.S. House Small Business Committee hearing, bankers and small business owners told lawmakers that a harsh regulatory environment is responsible for the tight business credit market.
"What we found is that the FDIC regulators are inconsistently applying regulations throughout the banking community," Lynn Ozer, executive vice president of Susquehanna Bank, said in his testimony representing the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders.
The hearing focused on the contention from regulators and President Obama that the Federal government does not have any impact on banks' ability to lend money. Witnesses argued that Federal government regulation is impeding banks' ability to lend money to businesses.
Source: American Banker
"What we found is that the FDIC regulators are inconsistently applying regulations throughout the banking community," Lynn Ozer, executive vice president of Susquehanna Bank, said in his testimony representing the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders.
The hearing focused on the contention from regulators and President Obama that the Federal government does not have any impact on banks' ability to lend money. Witnesses argued that Federal government regulation is impeding banks' ability to lend money to businesses.
Source: American Banker
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
House Appraisals Under Fire; Computerized Models Are Assailed as Inacurate
Home appraisals, which were blamed for being too generous during the housing boom, are now being criticized by some home owners for being too stingy, preventing them from refinancing or borrowing against their houses.
The criticism is being leveled at computerized real-estate appraisals, which depend on models that use prices from home sales and other data to determine the value of a house. Computerized appraisals calculate a home’s value by using an index derived from historical repeat-sales data, or sales records of homes with similar property characteristics, such as square footage and the number of bedrooms and baths.
In-person appraisals don’t incorporate as much transactional data as a computer model.
Yale economist Robert Shiller, who developed the first systems in the early 1990s, is among those who say that in some situations the models may be providing unrealistically low values, prompting lenders to reject loan applications or lend less money on particular properties. Some models weigh past sales of a particular property over time against a historical home-price index, and they are running into problems with properties that have been bought only once.
This is the situation in places such as Nevada and Southern California, where new subdivisions sprouted during the housing boom but many homes never sold or entered foreclosure before ever being sold in a non-distressed transaction.
Wall Street Journal (12/30/10); M.P. McQueen
The criticism is being leveled at computerized real-estate appraisals, which depend on models that use prices from home sales and other data to determine the value of a house. Computerized appraisals calculate a home’s value by using an index derived from historical repeat-sales data, or sales records of homes with similar property characteristics, such as square footage and the number of bedrooms and baths.
In-person appraisals don’t incorporate as much transactional data as a computer model.
Yale economist Robert Shiller, who developed the first systems in the early 1990s, is among those who say that in some situations the models may be providing unrealistically low values, prompting lenders to reject loan applications or lend less money on particular properties. Some models weigh past sales of a particular property over time against a historical home-price index, and they are running into problems with properties that have been bought only once.
This is the situation in places such as Nevada and Southern California, where new subdivisions sprouted during the housing boom but many homes never sold or entered foreclosure before ever being sold in a non-distressed transaction.
Wall Street Journal (12/30/10); M.P. McQueen
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Americans Still Lack Confidence in U.S. Banking Industry
Most Americans continue to lack confidence in the stability of the U.S. banking system, but they also remain unworried that they will lose their money due to a bank failure.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 44% of Adults are at least somewhat confident in the stability of the U.S. banking industry, including 11% who are Very Confident. However, 52% say they are not confident in the industry's stability, with 15% who are Not At All Confident.
Read the entire report a Rasmussen Reports by clicking here.
Banks Open Loan Spigot; Uptick in Lending to Businesses Is Expected to Accelerate
Moody’s Analytics estimates that commercial and industrial lending in the fourth quarter grew 0.2% from the third quarter, to $1.22 trillion, the first quarterly increase in two years. Moody’s predicts such lending will rise 3% in 2011.
Until recently, a chronic lack of lending to businesses was seen by economists as one of the obstacles to healthy recovery. Commercial and industrial lending “is the last thing that turns in a business cycle,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics.
Coming off the dramatic lending drop after the financial crisis struck, recent increases in commercial lending reported by banks are modest. The amount of business loans outstanding remains well below historical levels. In addition, new activity varies significantly from bank to bank and industry to industry. Still, the uptick is notable, say banking analysts.
Wall Street Journal (12/30/10); Ruth Simon
Until recently, a chronic lack of lending to businesses was seen by economists as one of the obstacles to healthy recovery. Commercial and industrial lending “is the last thing that turns in a business cycle,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics.
Coming off the dramatic lending drop after the financial crisis struck, recent increases in commercial lending reported by banks are modest. The amount of business loans outstanding remains well below historical levels. In addition, new activity varies significantly from bank to bank and industry to industry. Still, the uptick is notable, say banking analysts.
Wall Street Journal (12/30/10); Ruth Simon
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Bank Survey Reports Expectations of Tightened Lending Through 2012
The Federal Reserve’s October 2010 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices reports continued tight lending conditions by banks to businesses and households. The survey is based on responses from 57 domestic banks and 22 U.S. branches of foreign banks.
Despite reporting that some large banks have eased lending terms over the past three months, a special question in the October survey found that lending conditions would remain tight for the foreseeable future. In particular, the majority of respondents involved with residential and commercial real estate lending indicated they would not return to long-term norms of lending practices until after 2012.
On the other hand, 40 percent of respondents indicated that lending for mortgages and credit cards would return to long-term norms by the end of 2012.
With respect to residential real estate lending, the Fed reported that small fractions of banks reported tightened standards on prime and nontraditional mortgage loans.
Interestingly, the tightening was mostly reported by smaller banks, with larger banks leaving standards about unchanged. However, both small and large banks reported tightening standards for non-traditional mortgage loans. All banks reported small declines in demand for loans, likely related to the end of the home buyer tax credit.
The headline result of some easing of lending standards by big banks stands in contrast to recent NAHB survey data, which indicates continued tightening of lending to home builders.
Read the entire report at www.FederalReserve.gov by clicking here.
Despite reporting that some large banks have eased lending terms over the past three months, a special question in the October survey found that lending conditions would remain tight for the foreseeable future. In particular, the majority of respondents involved with residential and commercial real estate lending indicated they would not return to long-term norms of lending practices until after 2012.
On the other hand, 40 percent of respondents indicated that lending for mortgages and credit cards would return to long-term norms by the end of 2012.
With respect to residential real estate lending, the Fed reported that small fractions of banks reported tightened standards on prime and nontraditional mortgage loans.
Interestingly, the tightening was mostly reported by smaller banks, with larger banks leaving standards about unchanged. However, both small and large banks reported tightening standards for non-traditional mortgage loans. All banks reported small declines in demand for loans, likely related to the end of the home buyer tax credit.
The headline result of some easing of lending standards by big banks stands in contrast to recent NAHB survey data, which indicates continued tightening of lending to home builders.
Read the entire report at www.FederalReserve.gov by clicking here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)