News By Edition

Bradford Technologies Chief Valuation Officer Bill King recently hosted a webinar titled “Bias and Subjectivity in Appraisals:  A Discussion of Unintended Bias in Appraisal Reports.”

Valuation Review was in attendance and caught up with King for further insight on this important subject matter detailing many facets of what can be perceived to be bias and how to avoid it in an appraisal report.

Read on for more of what the valuation officer had to say.

Thanksgiving is truly a special time of the year for family and friends to gather in appreciation of many gifts received. After very turbulent times stemming from the global pandemic, it would appear a true sense of “normalcy,” both personally and professionally, has returned, a reason to be extra thankful. As is tradition,

Valuation Review asks those in the appraisal profession what they are thankful for this year.

Read on to hear what  holiday sentiments our appraisers shared with us.

Valuation Review spoke with owner David Beal, an appraiser from Texas-based Beal Appraisal, for some thoughts as to what will be prominent issues as the industry continues to navigate through 2022.

Beal also touched on market aspects, as well as competitiveness within the profession.

Read on for more of the conversation.

Dart Appraisal has named a sales vice president to its executive team. The role of this individual will be to oversee all revenue-generating activities across existing and prospective customers.

 A Florida regional AMC announced the company's expansion into Massachusetts and that it is licensed by the Massachusetts Division of Occupational Licensure Board of Real Estate Appraisers. This marks a major milestone in the company's expansion efforts nationwide.

Clear Capital is laying off 27 percent of its global workforce months after freezing mass hiring.

A spokesperson for Clear Capital confirmed the layoffs but did not have the specific number of employees impacted.

Read on for a comment from the company CEO.

The Appraisal Subcommittee of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council is adopting a final rule to amend rules of practice and procedure governing temporary waiver proceedings which were promulgated in 1992 pursuant to Title XI of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989, as amended.

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. expanded its Apprise platform recently with the addition of Casey Merrill as managing director, West Coast region lead.

Merrill is a former defensive player with the NFL’s Green Bay Packers and New York Giants.

Read on to learn more.

LoanLogics recently made several executive leadership changes. This includes the departure of CEO Bill Neville, who hands over the reins to a new CEO.

Accurate Group recently announced plans to expand its nationwide appraiser network in response to growing demand for real estate appraisals. By proactively expanding its appraiser network, Accurate Group hopes to mitigate the risk of an appraiser shortage and ensure lenders and servicers continue to receive high service levels and the fastest-possible appraisal turnaround times.

Andrew Bough, executive vice president at Mortgage Connect, Valuation Solutions at Valuation Connect, reached out to Valuation Review to share his thoughts from his article “Appraising in a Slow Market.”

Bough speaks to the “new reality” everyone must deal with.

Read on for more marketing analysis.

Global DMS announced the addition of Bias Alert to its award-winning EVO-Residential valuation technology platform.  The company said Bias Alert is new technology that alerts lenders about the potential presence of bias in an appraisal before the appraisal is released externally to the borrower(s).

For this month’s insight from Dustin Harris (“The Appraiser Coach”), the industry veteran examines how certain verbiage, as well as familiar terms, can make the difference when it comes to general understandings as to what one is talking about.

Harris’ blogs “Language is Important” and “That Car Costs How Much per Pound” spell it out.

Read on for more appraisal advice.

When it comes to real estate technology, Realtors said that eSignature, lockbox, and apps and technology from their local multiple listing service were the most impactful tools for their businesses this past year. These findings appear in the 2022 Technology Survey from the National Association of Realtors.

Almost half (48.5 percent) of mortgaged residential properties in the U.S. were considered equity-rich in the third quarter, according to ATTOM. That’s up from both the second quarter (48.1 percent) and year-over-year (39.5 percent.)

Bradford Technologies Chief Valuation Officer Bill King concludes his conversation with Valuation Review about thoughts stemming from his webinar titled “Bias and Subjectivity in Appraisals:  A Discussion of Unintended Bias in Appraisal Reports.”

King points out more “red flags” regarding what could be interpreted as bias vocabulary within appraisal reports.

Read on for the conclusion of this special feature.

The housing market is rebalancing after one of the more competitive periods ever seen.

While homes that sell are still doing so relatively fast, they are moving slower than at the height of last year’s pace but quicker than pre-pandemic norms, according to a Zillow analysis. 

Read on to learn more.

This year’s typical autumn housing market slowdown is more pronounced as rapidly rising interest rates discourage buyers and sellers from entering the market. However, there are fundamental and long-term drivers of housing demand that will position the housing market to rebound once the dust settles from the current challenging economic conditions, according to First American Deputy Chief Economist Odeta Kushi. One of those drivers is education.

Profit margins on median-priced single-family home and condo sales dropped from 57.6 percent in the second quarter to 54.6 percent in the third quarter, as home prices declined for the first time in almost three years, according to ATTOM’s third-quarter home sales report.

The Appraisal Institute’s Continuing Education Program announces a special training opportunity. Interested parties can learn more and register here.

CoreLogic’s monthly Loan Performance Insights Report for August showed 2.8 percent of mortgages were delinquent by at least 30 days or more, including those in foreclosure.

This represents a 1.2 percentage point decrease in the overall delinquency rate compared with August 2021, according to the CoreLogic report.

Read on to learn more.

Reggora recently automated its appraisal order management process with Assurance Financial. The automation significantly reduced operating costs and increased borrower satisfaction, according to Reggora.

a360inc, a technology and outsourcing solutions provider to the legal and real estate services industries, selected a new digital transformation partner, Outamation Inc. The automation and digital transformation-based service provider offers customized solutions for businesses to embrace and leverage digitization.

Big Purple Dot, provider of an ecosystem of mortgage marketing technologies, has tapped CoreLogic to launch a mortgage recruiting platform. The platform will be powered by CoreLogic data.