News By Edition

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will incorporate desktop appraisals into their Selling Guides for many new purchase loans starting in early 2022.

Valuation Review sat down with Class Valuation’s Chief Innovation Officer Scot Rose and Chief Appraiser John Dingeman to discuss how this   will impact the industry moving forward.

Read on to learn more.

Class Valuation has acquired Metro-West and its subsidiary, Valuation Link.

Metro-West is the largest independent appraisal firm in the nation.

Read on for more details regarding this acquisition.

CubiCasa, a real estate software company headquartered in Oulu, Finland, recently announced a partnership with Accurate Group, a provider of technology-driven real estate appraisal, title data, analytics, and e-closing solutions.

Through this partnership, professionals in Accurate Group’s network will be empowered to complete inspections and appraisal services with CubiCasa’s mobile scanning technology.

Read on for more about this collaboration.

Arcapita Group Holdings acquired a significant controlling interest in Nationwide Property and Appraisal Services, LLC.

The appraisal company served mortgage lending institutions across all 50 states.

Read on to learn more about this industry acquisition.

With Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac accepting desktop appraisals beginning in March, Incenter Appraisal Management and McKissock Learning are partnering to help appraisers update their remote inspection skills. The two organizations will jointly sponsor several webinars for appraisers seeking to master new remote inspection/desktop appraisal solutions, which are expected to increasingly become requirements in the future.

The Appraisal Foundation is seeking qualified candidates to fill three at-large trustee positions for its board. The individuals elected will serve three-year terms beginning on January 1, 2023. 

United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) is crediting borrowers up to $600 for appraisal costs on all conventional, government and jumbo purchase loans for primary homes. This is after borrowers utilize UWM’s CD at Initial Underwrite process.

In his blog “Breaking Barriers to Success,” Dustin Harris (“The Appraiser Coach”) reminds appraisers of something most important in one’s business.

He points out ways to block mental barriers to achieve high levels for success.

Read on for more appraiser advice from Harris.

A bill intended to halt discrimination in residential real estate lending and appraisals has been introduced in the Indiana Legislature.

House Bill 1326, authored by Rep. Cherrish Pryor (D-Indianapolis), prohibits discrimination in appraisals and lending based on the applicant's race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, national origin or on the residents of the neighborhood in which the property is located.

Read on for more details.

A federal judge has granted the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) motion to dismiss claims the trade association engaged in false advertising or deceptive acts. However, a real estate technology company’s antitrust lawsuit against NAR and Zillow Group may still move forward. 

Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey, showing the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.55 percent. A year ago, at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.73 percent.

Homesellers realized a profit of $94,092 on the typical sale in 2021, up 45 percent from $64,931 in 2020 and up 71 percent from $55,000 two years ago, according to ATTOM’s year-end home sales report.  Profits rose in more than 90 percent of housing markets ATTOM analyzed and the latest figure, based on median purchase and resale prices, marked the highest level in the U.S. since at least 2008.

U.S. housing gained a record $6.9 trillion in 2021, nearly doubling what was previously the largest annual gain of $3.7 trillion in 2005.

The full U.S. housing stock is now worth $43.4 trillion, according to a new Zillow analysis.

Read on for more from the report.

Greystone has provided a $14.9 million HUD-insured loan to refinance a 116-unit affordable housing property in Westerly, R.I. The transaction was originated by Lisa Fischman, managing director in Greystone’s New York office.

In an All-Participants Memorandum, Ginnie Mae issued streamlined documentation requirements for Federal Housing Administration advance loan modifications. The change is due in part to the expansion of digital signature usage on documents in November and the expansion of mortgage-backed securities pools of extended-term mortgages.

Valuation Review asked Clear Capital Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy Kenon Chen his thoughts on Fannie Mae’s recent announcement regarding a desktop appraisal option.

This method is for certain loans submitted after March 19 of this year.

Read on for more of our conversation with Chen.

Consumer Direct (CD) lenders have done very well capturing the bulk of refinance business over the past few years. With the mortgage business shifting to purchase loans, CD lenders will need a different strategy, according to STRATMOR Group.

S&P Dow Jones Indices released the latest results for the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, the measure of U.S. home prices.

Data released November 2021 show home prices continue to increase across the U.S.

Read on to learn more.