Last Updated:
May 11, 2010
Washington Real Estate
With the goal of achieving liquidity in our condo markets, WMRA strongly urges NAR to pursue public policy, whether through federal legislation or regulatory changes, that would exempt resort areas nationwide from the current GSE condo guidelines.
In January, Fannie Mae undertook a “Special Approval” designation that exempts established condo projects in Florida to help stabilize the states condo market. We believe resort markets in all areas of the United States should be exempted from rules that prevent sales of condominiums in our areas.
The Impact In Resort Markets
Below is a sampling of issues REALTORS® and local lenders are seeing in condo transactions:
“As lending practices continue to tighten, it has become exceedingly apparent how this affects our economy in Summit County. Current Fannie Mae Guidelines indicate perfectly sound and warrantable condominium projects in Summit County may be denied any financing possibilities simply because they are located in a "resort" area or because individual unit owners may rent their units on a nightly basis. Furthermore large banks are adding additional cumbersome barriers restricting financing because many condominiums do not have individual meters for gas and electric services or because the word "lodge" is in the name. These are examples of unreasonable and unfounded restrictions that are severely hindering buyers trying to purchase condos in our area.