On January 6th, Fannie May stated that it would begin to start to thoroughly review hundreds of Florida condo projects for a new “special approval” label. The reason? Fannie Mae wants to restructure mortgage approvals for certain projects that do not fall into the company guidelines.

Many Florida realtors have been pushing Fannie Mae to review its condo lending program, and as a result, Fannie Mae actually used a number of realtors as consultants on the program. One realtor, Summer Grenne, vice president and regional manager with Prudential Florida 1st Realty in Ft. Lauderdale, said “This is good new for Florida and a step in the right direction for the state’s condominium market.”

Greene thinks that the review will help put a positive spin in the market, adding “Hopefully, with the special approval designation process, we can begin to get our condo inventories reduced and absorbed as more condo buyers receive a green light from lenders for loans. This will help boost confidence in the market.”

More than half of mortgages in the U.S. are backed by Fannie Mae and its cousin Freddie Mac. Greene also hopes that as Freddie Mac sees the positive shift that Fannie Mae’s condo reorganization is taking, that they too will jump on board.

The Fannie Mae special approval designation is set to be effective from 9 to 18 months, and lenders have to confirm all special approval designations on the loan application, marked with a date. The designation only applied to condo projects.