News By Edition

Valuation Review caught up again with Cignature Realty CEO Lazer Sternhell, who shared thoughts from his article “What are the Pros and Cons of Investing in Multifamily Housing in 2023?”

Just three years ago, Sternhell said, multifamily housing looked to be a clear frontrunner investment in a real estate market.

Read on for more of what was discussed.

Valuation Review had a front row seat in Washington, D.C., in January for the Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) Hearing on Appraisal Bias from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau headquarters.

We caught up with ASC Executive Director Jim Park afterwards for his perspective.

Read on for the full conversation.

Valuation Review recently caught up with Voxtur Chief Valuation Officer Ernie Durbin, who shared with us a rather unique approach to life.

Durbin once lived, traveled, and worked from his Airstream trailer and shared a few tales from behind the wheel.

Read on to learn more about this particular method of travel.

For the March installment of appraisal tips from Dustin Harris, “The Appraiser Coach,” we provide some helpful hints from the coach’s recent blogs “Supporting Your International VA’s,” and “The Monster in the Closet.”

Harris examines virtual assistants and letting others do specific tasks so the appraiser can do more.

Read on for more appraiser advice.

New appraisal waiver policies can affect old homebuying practices, according to CoreLogic’s “How New Appraisal Waiver Policies Affect Old Homebuying Practices.”

Desktop appraisal solutions also have played a key role in shaping the current homebuying process.

Read on to learn more.

Recently, the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) joined leading civil rights and consumer advocates and issued a statement in a letter to The Appraisal Foundation (TAF) declining to join TAF’s consumer council. NFHA specifically pointed out some areas of concern it has with TAF’s structures and policies.

Homeownership is one of the best paths for building intergenerational wealth. For some homebuyers and owners, however, a home’s valuation may be skewed by skin color or community demographics, according to a blog post by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Raheela Ahsan to the Appraisal Management Companies Advisory Committee for a term set to expire on Jan. 31, 2025. The committee advises the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board and makes recommendations on matters relating to the regulation of appraisal management companies.

The Appraisal Standards Board (ASB) recently announced it plans to release a Fifth Exposure Draft of proposed changes to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) following feedback from appraisers, regulators and the public. The ASB stated it will continue work to clarify the Ethics Rule.

BBG reached out to Valuation Review to share more market news.

The company’s senior managing director delivers insight from his article “Onshoring Trend Poised to Propel U.S. Industrial Sector.”

Read to find out what specific affects these trends will have.  

Recently, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge made a key announcement. Thanks to Federal Housing Administration (FHA) programs, approximately 2 million homeowners with FHA mortgages were able to stay in their homes from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 through December 2022.

CubiCasa recently announced UtahRealEstate.com as the latest multiple listing service (MLS) to join its partnership program. Through the program, MLSs can unlock benefits to strengthen the free floor plans produced by the CubiCasa app and deliver the tool to customers.

Infima Technologies, a deep-learning, predictive mortgage analytics company, enters 2023 with comprehensive agency mortgage-backed security coverage. Adding Ginnie Mae’s Levels 1 and 2 to Infima’s advanced prepayment projections and analytics expanded coverage to 525,000 mortgage securities, backed by roughly 35 million mortgage loans valued at nearly $11 trillion.

Valuation Review caught up with Josh Walitt, veteran appraiser and principal analyst at Walitt Solutions, who discussed non-lending skills.

The development of these skills can lead to appraisers diversifying their practices.

Read on to learn more of what Walitt told us.

Reggora Appraisal Compliance and Initiatives Director Ken Dicks sat down with Valuation Review to discuss the mortgage lending outlook for this year.

Dicks outlined some specific areas of concern.

Read on for the full conversation.

CoreLogic International recently entered into a binding agreement to acquire boutique Australian proptech firm Plezzel as part of its expansion across real estate technology solutions.

The agreement to acquire Plezzel is subject to a number of conditions, including regulatory approval.

Read on for more details surrounding this acquisition.

Clear Capital announced the launch of Universal Data Collection (UDC), the latest in the company’s suite of products designed to support appraisal modernization. UDC supports Fannie Mae’s newly announced Value Acceptance + Property Data program, as well as Freddie Mac’s ACE+ PDR solution.

ASA announced a partnership with Valutico. Valutico is helping finance professionals perform accurate and reliable valuations in minutes.

Cushman & Wakefield recently selected Realquantum to provide its cloud-based appraisal tools for the firm’s U.S. Valuation & Advisory. Initially, this is designed to help commercial valuation professionals properly budget their time.

Valuation Review concludes its conversation with Consolidated Analytics Chief Appraiser Jeffrey Rauland.

The veteran appraiser tackled some other issues including portfolio analysis.

Read on for the conclusion of this feature story.

Tyler Technologies, Inc. recently announced it acquired Safeground Analytics, a company providing real estate appraisals and assessments for states, counties, and municipalities.

The companies hope the acquisition elevates appraisal services offerings for assessment community.

Read on for more details about this transaction.

CoreLogic recently acquired Roostify, a digital mortgage technology provider.

By integrating Roostify’s digital mortgage technology platform with CoreLogic’s data, analytics and workflow solutions, clients will gain critical information about borrowers and properties at the beginning of the loan process, the companies say.

Read on for more details concerning this acquisition.

Late February, Freddie Mac appointed a new senior vice president and head of its single-family acquisitions division. He brings more than two decades of experience across all sectors of mortgage lending to the company.

Mortgage CRM (customer relationship management) leader OptifiNow recently launched OptifiNow Flex, a version of its successful CRM platform to support multi-channel mortgage teams. Flex unifies the workflows for wholesale, retail, reverse mortgage, recruiting and more into a single system.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Builder Application Survey data showed a decrease of 3.5 percent in mortgage applications for new home purchases in January compared with one year earlier.

Valuation Review tackles the subject of repurchases and the risks involved. We sat down with Consolidated Analytics Chief Appraiser Jeffrey Rauland, who discussed his many areas of expertise.

One of the topics featured is portfolio analysis. 

Read on for more of what Rauland told us.

Terry Horton, of Cincinnati, was going to refinance a North Avondale apartment building he rented to predominantly Black residents who use Section 8 vouchers, in order to buy another building he would also offer as affordable housing.

Horton, who is Black, was surprised at the low appraisal he received and has taken legal action.

Read on for all the details.

In December 2022, 3 percent of mortgages were delinquent by at least 30 days or more, including those in foreclosure.

This is according to the CoreLogic Loan Performance Insights report.

Read on for all the numbers.

Opteon, an international provider of valuation, advisory, and property services, recently announced the expansion of its direct-to-consumer business model. This expansion will provide homeowners and buyers, as well as real estate, legal, and tax professionals, the ability to order an appraisal directly through Opteon’s services.

Nikitra Bailey, executive vice president of the National Fair Housing Alliance, recently issued a statement following an announcement by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The HUD announcement pertained to it reducing the Federal Housing Administration’s annual mortgage insurance premium.

Mortgage lenders in search of new business could find it by partnering with wealth managers and private bankers that serve high net worth borrowers, but only if they are willing to meet exacting standards, according to STRATMOR Group.

Valuation Review concludes its conversation with Cignature Realty CEO Lazer Sternhell.

He shared final thoughts from his article “What are the Pros and Cons of Investing in Multifamily Housing in 2023?”

Read on for the final part of this feature story.

Fannie Mae recently released its Selling Guide Announcement SEL-2023-02 with significant updates for appraisers. This pertains to changes regarding valuation modernization, Fannie said in a release.

Valuation Review got a comment from Appraisal Institute President Craig Steinley, who expressed his thoughts about the announcement.

Read on for more details.

JLL’s Valuation Advisory group recently released its inaugural Healthcare Investor Survey and Trends Outlook.

This document surveyed nearly 130 influential leaders in the healthcare sector for insight on key themes in healthcare capital markets and the investor outlook for 2023.

Read on to find out more about this area of capital markets.

CoreLogic recently released its latest Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI) results for December.

The SFRI analyzes single-family rent price changes nationally and across major metro areas. 

Read on to learn more from the report.

Each year, the average American household spends $2,690 on real-estate property taxes, plus another $444 for residents of the 26 states with vehicle property taxes. With such high costs, it’s no surprise more than $14 billion in property taxes go unpaid each year, according to the National Tax Lien Association.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reached an agreement with the state of Louisiana to release homeowners from repayment obligations under the Road Home Program.

Big Purple Dot, provider of an ecosystem of mortgage marketing technologies, hired a new chief product officer. The appointment comes as the company prepares to expand its recruiting platform.

Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased year-over-year by 6.9 percent in December 2022.

This is according to the CoreLogic Home Price Index Forecast.

Read on for more numbers.

The fast-approaching spring home shopping season should feel a bit calmer than in recent years, according to a new Zillow analysis.

Shoppers can expect competition for well-priced homes, but without the crowds of buyers that packed open houses in 2021 and early 2022.

Read on for more analysis.

R3 AMC, a full-service AMC focused on helping lenders navigate the appraisal process, recently announced the industry’s first insured appraisal solution, Val-Insure. This technology is for both overvaluation inaccuracies and undervaluation due to appraisal bias and related regulatory and legal claims.

The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) increased for the third consecutive month in January but still remains well below its pre-pandemic highs. Overall, the HPSI rose 0.6 points to 61.6, with three of the index’s six components increasing month-over-month.

LauraMac, a market company in mortgage loan review technology, recently announced the completion of its integration with LoanLogics IDEA, an intelligent document processing and data extraction technology. LauraMac’s cloud-based Loan Review platform is a configurable transaction management system used by more than 60 percent of the industry’s third-party due diligence firms to review and QC loans.

ATTOM’s fourth quarter 2022 report analyzing qualified low-income Opportunity Zones targeted by Congress for economic redevelopment found that median single-family home and condo prices decreased from the third quarter in 56 percent of those areas.

A Marin City, Calif., couple who sued a real estate appraiser over alleged racial discrimination reached an out-of-court settlement, according to the Marin Independent Journal.

Paul Austin and his wife Tenisha Tate-Austin sued appraiser Janette Miller and Miller and Perotti Real Estate Appraisals in San Rafael.

Read on for the details.

Fannie Mae recently released its Selling Guide Announcement SEL-2023-02 with significant updates for appraisers. This announcement addressed the changes to valuation modernization.