News By Edition

Vice President, Valuations Product Management for ServiceLink Phillip King, discussed his ideas in a recent article pertaining to the appraisal modernization process.

King shared those thoughts with Valuation Review, in addition to answering some other questions we posed to him.

Read on for more of our conversation with King.

At the 2022 National Association of Appraisers Conference and Trade Show, Valuation Review spoke with Fannie Mae Single Family Marketing Lead Associate Keisha Wilkinson.

From working with trainees to appraiser recruitment, Wilkinson touched on a variety of topics pertinent to the future of the appraisal industry.

Read on for more information and updates.

BBG recently expanded its presence in the Sun Belt region with the acquisition of Florida and Texas appraisal firms.

Terms of the acquisitions were not disclosed.

Read on to learn more.

StoicLane, a long-term growth platform making strategic acquisitions to support digitizing finance, insurance and real estate verticals, recently announced that Igor Simkin has been appointed chief executive officer of Concordia Group Holdings, StoicLane’s appraisal, title and escrow platform. The appointment took effect immediately.

Julia Gordon was recently sworn in as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) assistant secretary for housing and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) commissioner. HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge issued the oath of office to Commissioner Gordon during a ceremony at HUD’s headquarters.

Appraisers encounter many situations in which the value of land must be estimated, and some of these situations can present complex challenges. This is according to a book published by the Appraisal Institute.

S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) recently released the latest results for the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, which measures U.S. home prices.

Data released for March 2022 showed that home prices continue to increase across the U.S.

Read on for more from this report.

GPARENCY, a commission-free commercial mortgage brokerage, announced the launch of Broker Assist. This is a white label service for commercial mortgage brokers who need help securing and underwriting commercial property mortgages.

PenFed Credit Union furthered its commitment to help more of its members become homeowners by offering Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans. In April, PenFed received direct endorsement authority to originate FHA loans from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Credit Union National Association said it strongly supports the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) proposal to increase the term limit for modification of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage loans to 40 years. HUD’s current regulations stipulate FHA loan servicers may modify a loan for a term of no more than 30 years.

A survey reported nearly 32 percent of people moved last year citing being closer to family as the main reason. The personal-finance website WalletHub recently released its report on 2022’s “Best and Worst Places to Raise a Family.”

The National Association of Realtors and the Urban Institute hosted a policy forum at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to discuss reforming mortgage finance. Talks also included other policies to make homeownership more accessible to underserved communities.

The National Association of Realtors praised the Senate’s decision to pave the way for acting Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Sandra Thompson to become the agency’s permanent leader. Thompson had been acting director since June 2021. She previously served as the deputy director of the FHFA Division of Housing Mission and Goals since 2013.

The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) announced it supports President Joe Biden’s Housing Supply Action Plan. The plan addresses the ongoing housing supply shortage and sets a national strategy to close the housing supply gap in five years.

Cushman & Wakefield recently hired Zach Bowyer to lead the company’s Valuation & Advisory (V&A) Residential Practice Group in the U.S. As senior managing director, Bowyer will collaborate with multifamily, co-live, subdivision, student housing and affordable housing V&A professionals to deliver Cushman & Wakefield’s entire spectrum of services and expertise to clients.

Black Knight, Inc. recently released its latest Originations Market Monitor report, looking at mortgage origination data through April month-end.

Leveraging daily rate lock data from Black Knight’s Optimal Blue PPE, a mortgage lending pricing engine, the Originations Market Monitor provides the industry’s earliest and most comprehensive view of origination activity.

Read on to learn more.

In its May Insights Report, STRATMOR Group’s Customer Experience Director Mike Seminari analyzes the real estate appraisal process in an article entitled, “The Next Big Mortgage Technology Change: Appraisals.” Seminari discusses the results of a recent study on appraisal operations conducted by STRATMOR and commissioned by appraisal management software company, Reggora.

Valuation Review concludes its conversation with Vice President, Valuations Product Management for ServiceLink Phillip King on appraisal modernization.

King speaks to some specifics and predictions surrounding desktops and hybrid appraisals.

Read on for the conclusion of this story.

The Senate recently confirmed Sandra Thompson as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency by a 49-46 vote. Thompson has served as acting director since June 2021 and has met with Credit Union National Association leaders while at the agency.

Valuation Review was saddened to learn of the passing of CoreLogic Chief Economist Frank Nothaft.

A regular feature in our publication’s market section, Nothaft, a former top economist with Freddie Mac, was 66 years old.

Read on for an official statement from CoreLogic.