It seems as though the powers that be at the Federal Housing Finance Agency have finally realized that the short sale process should not, in fact, take a long time.
As reported on inman.com, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced new short sale timelines this week that should drastically decrease the time it takes for offers on short sales to be processed. In addition, Freddie Mac has stated that their faster short sale timeline also includes submissions for eligibility.
While this all sounds good, it is important to keep in mind that they have made these sorts of claims in the past and fell short of meeting expectations. Furthermore, there are some inconsistencies in these plans, such as Freddie Mac’s expectations that loan providers make prompt decisions (within 30 days), but giving them an allowance of an extra 30 days if they need more time. The only caveat is that they are to provide weekly updates if they fall within the 30-60 day timeframe.
Regardless, it is still promising to see these sorts of standards being made, as these are what will allow the housing market to continue its steady improvement. The Orlando Sentinel just reported that home prices for the core Orlando area have seen three straight months of improvements, with scarcity levels back to where they were in 2005. Even Bank of America is joining the speedy short sale bandwagon. The faster the banks process bad loans through the short sale process, the faster everyone recovers.