News By Edition

Cheryl Zormeier, an Arizona certified residential appraiser, has a concern about the inaccurate information in the local MLS.

Valuation Review, which is bringing you the first of many new exclusive features with sources/subscribers eager to share their appraisal expertise with us beginning with Zormeier, spoke with her about her concerns and other industry issues.

Read on to hear what Zormeier had to say.

Earlier, Valuation Review brought to its readers’ attention that the Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) partnered with Mississippi Practical Appraiser Training (MPAT) for its inaugural MPAT program completion ceremony for 17 aspiring real estate appraisers in Mississippi.

We reached out to Mississippi veteran appraiser and the MPAT creator Melissa Bond, along with ASC Executive Director Jim Park for more in-depth details about this valuable program for new appraisers.

Read on to find out what we were told.

BBG recently appointed industry-leader Chris Harland as managing director.

Harland and his team of five commercial appraisers are joining BBG’s newly opened office in Albany, N.Y., the firm’s 49th U.S. office.

Read on for more about this appointment.

JLL’s Valuation Advisory group expanded its team in Seattle with five new hires.

This group will be responsible for driving growth, enhancing the customer experience and providing value to clients in the Pacific Northwest and the entire West Coast region.

Read on to learn more.

Dart Appraisal, a nationwide AMC, has acquired MaxVantage, a New Jersey-based AMC.

The acquisition further advances Dart Appraisal’s position in the AMC marketplace and builds upon the previous acquisitions of Valuation Management Group and USAMC.

Read on for more details surrounding this transaction.

Stewart Information Services Corp. recently announced that its Stewart Valuation Intelligence, LLC has been verified to support Freddie Mac’s new property data report. It will do so with VALIDITY Pro and its national panel of highly trained real estate brokers and agents.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently appointed Frank Towery Jr. and reappointed Julia Hayes to the Appraisal Management Companies Advisory Committee for terms set to expire on Jan. 31, 2024. The committee advises the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board and makes recommendations on matters relating to the regulation of appraisal management companies, according to a release from the Office of the Texas Governor.

The National Fair Housing Alliance, numerous civil rights groups and consumer advocates are urging the House Financial Services Committee, the Senate Banking Committee, and the Biden administration to support appraisal-reform legislation. The groups allege that the systemic failure of the nation’s property valuation system stifles wealth creation for too many people and communities and undermines the nation’s economy.

In a recent ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, the court denied a motion in limine from the defendants regarding the potential testimony of a witness testifying to valuations of a business.

The motion asserted that plaintiff SEC’s witness utilized information that was not known and could not be known by the defendants when they prepared their valuations on the same company.

Read on to learn more.

Home values slipped for the second consecutive month as mortgage costs continue to sideline buyers, according to Zillow's latest market report.

Affordability is driving market momentum.

Read o n for more numbers from the analysis.

The chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services introduced legislation aimed at rooting out discrimination in banking and closing the racial wealth and homeownership gap. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) called H.R. 8833 (Making Communities Stronger through the Community Reinvestment Act) a ‘transformative’ piece of legislation.

With economic uncertainty still a concern for many forecasters, Fannie Mae Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Douglas Duncan predicts a modest recession, characterized by competing effects of inflation and a strong labor market. Duncan will deliver his 2023 economic outlook at a live event on Oct. 12.

Freddie Mac recently released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey. It showed that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.02 percent.

In August, there were 34,501 properties with foreclosure filings, up 14 percent from July and up 118 percent year-over-year, according to ATTOM’s latest foreclosure market report. Lenders started the foreclosure process on 23,952 properties, up 12 percent from July and up 187 percent from a year ago.

Infima, a fixed-income predictive analytics provider, has expanded its coverage of mortgage securities (MBS) to bonds backed by Ginnie Mae. This expansion beyond Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac MBS completes Infima’s coverage of a major fixed-income asset class with a current market value of more than $10 trillion.

The ongoing tug of war between employers and employees about returning to the office will accelerate as pandemic-related impacts fade, according to a new Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) white paper.

Titled “A Framework for Considering Office Demand in a Post-Pandemic World,” the white paper outlines how much office space may be needed and how it will be used.

Read on for more from the MBA.

Valuation Review concludes its conversation with Debby Watson Lawson, a Certified Residential appraiser from Merit Appraisals of Texas.

Watson Lawson goes into more detail about trainees, in addition to looking at the Practical Applications of Real Estate Appraisal (PAREA).

Read on for the final installment of this feature story.

JLL’s Valuation Advisory group recently announced it has hired Jim O’Leary as an executive vice president in its Chicago office.

O’Leary will serve as the industrial lead for the region and focus on driving growth and building out the platform throughout Chicago and the greater Midwest.

Read on for more about this hire.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices for July showed that home price gains decelerated across the United States.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced it will begin to permit inclusion of a first-time homebuyer’s positive rental payment history as an additional factor in the credit assessment performed in the Technology Open to Approved Lenders Mortgage Scorecard. This will determine eligibility for an FHA-insured mortgage.

The Justice Department announced the filing of a lawsuit against Missouri-based LJLD LLC and Westminster Properties LLC, the owners, developers and builders of a multifamily housing complex in St. Louis, Mo. The lawsuit alleges that these defendants failed to design and construct housing units and related facilities at the Bridgewater Residences Apartments to make them accessible to persons with disabilities in compliance with the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.  

Fannie Mae is reminding homeowners and renters impacted by a natural disaster, including those affected by Hurricane Ian, of available mortgage assistance and disaster-relief options. Fannie Mae outlines specific guidelines for single-family mortgages impacted by a natural disaster.

Valuation Review concludes its conversation with Cheryl Zormeier, an Arizona Certified Residential appraiser.

Zormeier wraps up our talk focusing on technology significance moving forward for appraisers, as well as fees and turn times.

Read on for the conclusion of this story.

Pearl Certification recently announced it certified over 100,000 high-performing homes across 44 states. With a mission of making its global community a better place, Pearl Certification said it provides homeowners with the tools they need to improve their homes’ health, comfort, efficiency, resilience and value.

CoreLogic released its latest Single-Family Rent Index, which analyzes single-family rent price changes nationally and across major metropolitan areas.

Although U.S. single-family rent growth was up by 12.6 percent in July year-over-year, the gains continued to slow from the historic high recorded in April.

Read on to find out more about the single-family numbers.

Reggora recently announced that its order management software fully integrates into any mortgage lender’s custom loan origination system. Through integration with Reggora’s open API, the company said lenders can manage 100 percent of their appraisal orders directly within their proprietary loan origination system.