The Alabama Gulf Coast has experienced some improvements in condo sales during the final weeks of 2015, and more good new could be on the way thanks to announced changes in qualifying standards by the agency of Housing & Urban Development.

This month, HUD announced three major changes to the qualifying standards for a financing a condo. Though these changes are deemed “temporary,” they could help major condo markets like Alabama’s in the short term.

The National Association of Realtors said 60 percent of condo projects seeking approval in 2013 were turned down, a number that is up from 20 percent during 2011.

NAR said factors such as financial instability, pending litigation, insufficient insurance coverage and outdated or missing documentation contribute to many condo projects being turned down. NAR said FHA loans are important for the condo market, because they are often the best means of financing for first-time buyers and people on fixed incomes.

RealtyTrac’s latest Mortgage Letter states that a complete document package on a condo every two years is no longer required, a measure aimed to ease the recertification process. Buyers will only have to produce the important changes to a condo since the last time it was financed.

HUD declared all units noninvestment properties, except where they are tenant-occupied, being marketed as rentals, with no tenant and on the market for sale, or if currently under contract as an investment property.

Vacation properties will be listed as “owner-occupied.”

The last change eases the insurance standards for homeowners’ associations, RealtyTrac said in its report.

While HUD still has a requirement for condos to be 50 percent occupied to receive financing, one Congressional bill aims to change that.

The “Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2015” seeks to reduce the occupancy requirement to 35 percent, RealtyTrac said. The bill would allow for FHA loans in the event 50 percent of a development is commercial space.

“H.R. 3700 includes changes to FHA policies that will give current owners and potential buyers of condos access to more flexible and affordable financing and a wider choice of approved condo developments,” NAR President Chris Polychron told Congress.

Condos represent 9 percent of the mortgaged properties in existence, according to RealtyTrac.