In a recent survey on real estate lending by BoU, the majority of commercial banks reported concerns about valuation standards and some indicated that they have faced challenges realizing the value for collateral because of inflated valuation reports. A key gap appears to be the lack of a uniform industry standard.
With the job gains this year, 17 million more Americans are employed now than eight years ago. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate, which stood at 4.1 percent in October, has fallen 0.6 percentage point since the turn of the year and is nearly 6 percentage points below its peak in 2010.