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Welcome to the May 6 issue of Mobility Minute, a newsletter published each Friday by Worldwide ERC^® for the benefit of members and the global mobility and relocation industry as a whole. If you have a news tip or a suggestion for improving the newsletter, drop us a line.

What's happening?

This special edition of Mobility Minute looks to next week's Spring Virtual Conference:

Spring Virtual Conference Preview-Registration Deadline tomorrow May 13.
Changes to Condo Questionnaire Complicate Loan Process

Growth During Challenging Times

Tomorrow, May 13 is the registration deadline for this year's Worldwide ERC^® Spring Virtual Conference (SVC). The 3-day online event runs from Tuesday, May 17 to Thursday, May 19. The online event will feature industry vertical sessions that focus on Real Estate, Technology, Mortgage, Immigration, Relocation Management, and Corporate and Temporary Housing. The Industry Verticals are complemented by panel sessions that bring subject matter experts from different disciplines together to consider distinct issues from a range of professional perspectives. Public Policy Forums and Corporate Benchmarking round out the educational offerings. A Virtual Happy Hour hosted by Houston Relocation Professionals promises to be the social highlight where attendees will share the apps they can't live without.

Sneak Peek at some SVC Sessions:

The Game Changer: How the Real Estate Market is Impacting Global Mobility -Pending sales are down, and prices continue to rise even as mortgage rates rise alongside them beyond anyone’s expectations. There are just two months of inventory and home prices have increased 15% year-over-year. Professionals in real estate, finance, destination services, and temporary housing gather to lay out the latest data and delve into some real solutions to deliver the best experience to transferees. -Read more

Global Tax Policy -As employers prepare for a future that features remote work more prominently, they need to understand three critical types of employees (in-office, remote, and hybrid) and the nuanced tax implications each brings. The physical presence of a single employee working remotely in a state could be sufficient to establish a business tax nexus between an employer and that state. If tax nexus is established, the employer may be required to comply with the tax laws of that state and may be responsible for registering for and paying business income and franchise taxes, sales and uses taxes, and other taxes in the state that the employer is not ordinarily accustomed to paying. - Read more

Global Domestic Mobility Research - In large countries that comprise diverse cultural, economic, and regional characteristics, a domestic relocation can present unexpected complexity. In markets such as India, China, and Brazil, transferees can confront dramatically different cultures, lifestyles, and languages without leaving their home country. This session will take a look at survey results that inform guidelines for domestic moves in Australia, Brazil, China, India, Japan, and Mexico. - Read more

Silent Disabilities in Diversity - The past two years have highlighted ableist norms - subtle acts of exclusion - and brought attention to a pernicious form of discrimination that is too often overlooked. The new ways of working call on all employers to assess and affect real change in ensuring that our systems, practices, policies, and culture promote accessibility and true inclusion and belonging. - Read more

Changes to Condo Questionnaire Complicate Loan Process

The fallout from last year’s deadly collapse of the 12-story Champlain Towers South condominium in the Miami suburb of Surfside continues to be felt across the real estate sector, posing ongoing challenges for the relocation industry.

In the wake of the tragedy, which killed 98 people, mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac amended their condo questionnaire at the first of the year to include additional questions relating to inspections and known safety issues.

Why is this important?

In the relocation world, RMCs need to be cautious as sometimes, particularly in this hot market, the mortgage contingency is released prior to the condo questionnaire being completed, so a situation could arise where the buyer cannot obtain a loan after the contingency is released. Although there could be an opportunity to retain the buyer’s deposit, the RMC might have to hold the property in inventory until a cash buyer can be found. To prevent this, relocation companies may want to conduct due diligence on the association early in the process, particularly in coastal areas. Read more on Worldwide ERC

Effective Leadership in Times of Crisis (2)

Global Economic Snapshot

A record 8.2 percent of homes in the United States are now worth $1 million or more, up from 4.8 percent two years ago. according to a March report from Redfin. New research shows that some large cities still have affordable homes available, but they’re becoming more scarce. –New York Times
Rent for a single-family home rose 13.1% in February, compared with the same month last year, according to housing data firm CoreLogic. But home prices were up 20.9% in March, compared with a year ago. Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have also risen to an average of 5.27% this May, up from 2.96% a year ago, according to Freddie Mac. –Wall Street Journal
General Motors (GM) announced a new Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) pledge that invites its global suppliers to join its “commitment to carbon neutrality, the development of social responsibility programs, and implementation of sustainable procurement practice in their supply chain operations.” Suppliers signing the pledge commit to achieving carbon neutrality for their Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by dates by 2025 and achieving a minimum score of 50 in the EcoVadis Sustainable Procurement pillar. –Logistics Management
In grappling with the supply chain crisis companies are finding new suppliers and sources, entering into new business relationships, and confronting new taxing regimes. To manage cash flow and profitability goals companies are heavily recruiting financial professionals that can analyze the costs and benefits of balancing inventory and creating entirely new networks of local manufacturers and suppliers. –Journal of Accountancy

The Roundup

Vialto Partners announced the completion of its sale from PwC to funds affiliated with Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R). With this transaction, Vialto Partners becomes a leading independent provider of services supporting cross-border employee mobility. Vialto Partners had previously operated inside the PwC network as the Global Mobility Services business unit.
Synergy Global Housing (Synergy), a leader in serviced accommodation programe management, announced the launch of its newest professionally managed property, its first in Germany, Synergy @ 1487. Located in the heart of Munich, these stylish two-bedroom apartments mark the latest offering in a string of recent property announcements, which has seen the company’s European managed portfolio grow by 258 percent since the start of 2022.
SIRVA and BGRS announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to combine into a new organization initially named SIRVA BGRS, Inc. The combined company will be headquartered in the Chicago area. Tom Oberdorf will serve as Chief Executive Officer. Traci Morris will be retiring after a successful transition period.
In the 18th annual international Relocation Managers' Survey from Trippel Survey & Research, Plus Relocation earned an 8.88 out of 10 average rating for overall client satisfaction, ranking first among relocation management companies in the survey.