As a Government Affairs Chair for the California Association of Mortgage Professionals I was recently in Sacramento advocating for the consumer of housing, discussing housing issues and pending legislation with our state Senators and Assembly Members.
One thing of interest, our representatives in both Washington DC and Sacramento are very receptive and welcoming of our positions and recommendations. This is clearly a 180 from their positions immediately after the housing meltdown and great recession. Our representatives over the past years are fully aware that we are promoting responsible mortgage professionalism, and practices, and advocating for solid housing/finance policies and a strong economy.
Over the past 7 years there have been numerous new regulations applicable to housing and finance put in place, and many still being written. Our representatives are soliciting our opinions on how the regulations/legislation will have an effect on the consumer. It’s been obvious that many of the regulations, theoretically to help the consumer, have unintended consequences.
As one representative conveyed, they “have knowledge a mile wide, but it’s only an inch deep”. They have to legislate a multitude of subjects they’ve only had marginal exposure to. The smart representative knows their intellectual limitations in some areas, and listens to seasoned professionals in the applicable fields. The dangerous ones (in my opinion) are those that are close minded, think they know everything, and their ideology is always right. IMO that could also hold true to the general population.
Here is some “pending” California state legislation applicable to real estate that may be of interest:
AB 1736 (Steinorth) Homeownership Savings Accounts (HSAs) – AB 1736 would allow a first-time homebuyer (anybody who has not owned a property in last three years) who has a gross income of 80 percent or less than the area median income to annually deduct the amount deposited in an HSA from their state taxes, up to $20,000 per year. The savings accounts would be taxed fully in the tax year withdrawn, if not used towards the housing purchase.
AB 2668 (Mullin) Property Taxation: Base Year Value Transfers – Current law allows persons over the age of 55, or severely disabled, to transfer their property tax base year value of their principle residence to a replacement home of equal or lesser value within the same county (Prop. 60) or another county if that county has opted into the program (Prop. 90).
These measures provide: 1) the base year value of a principle residence may be transferred to a replacement home of greater value; and 2) the base year value of the replacement home to be calculated by adding the difference between the sales price of the principle residence and the purchase price of the replacement home to the base year value of the principle residence. AB 2668 was amended in the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee and will now only allow seniors with household incomes below the area median to transfer the property tax base year value to a replacement home of greater value.
SB 1069 (Wieckowski) Second Units – It is well known there is a housing shortage. Rents are going up faster than property values. The bill allows more accessory (or second) units to be built in single-family or multifamily residential zones, providing additional rental housing stock in California. As amended, SB 1069 would prohibit local agencies from imposing a parking requirement on a second/accessory unit if it is located within part of an existing residential lot or is within one-half mile of public transit or shopping. AB 1866 passed in 2002 required cities to develop rules for “accessory dwelling units” (ADUs)-granny flats in separate backyard units, garage conversions, and interior apartments all qualify as accessory dwelling units. There’s been substantial push back from the “not in my backyard” groups. It’s as simple as the law of supply and demand, the greater the demand, the higher the price. Buildable lots are sparse, and there’s a lot more profit to be made building new housing at market prices for the affluent than low-priced units for the poor. ADUs help supply affordable units.
If you are in the Los Angeles region, have any questions or real estate sales or financing needs, feel free in contacting:
Ron Henderson GRI, RECS, CIAS
President/Broker
Multi Real Estate Services, Inc
Gov’t Affairs Chair – California Association of Mortgage Professionals
www.mres.com
ronh@mres.com
Real Estate market, Mortgage rates, Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley, Conejo Valley, Simi Valley
Leave a Reply