News By Edition

What will 2021 look like for appraisers after so many changes and adaptations brought on by COVID-19?

For the most part, appraisers showed a resiliency that allowed their businesses to continue thriving under guidelines fitted for a “new” world. Still, many challenges will face the industry now that the calendar has turned past the first of January page, as well as opportunities.

Read on to learn more.

Valuation Review shares the comments and insights from the Appraisal Institute’s (AI) President Rodman Schley.

Schley conveyed his thoughts on a few critical issues facing the profession during the New Year, including diversity and discrimination.

Read on for more from the AI-elected official.

Appraisal Logistics said it will end 2020 stronger than it started, despite the global pandemic. Read on to learn more.

Valuation Review caught up with CoreLogic Chief Economist Frank Nothaft.

He discussed perceived challenges facing the appraisal industry as a result of COVID-19, while also sharing his ideas from his virtual presentation at this year’s Appraisal Summit regarding what the market will look like for appraisers and consumers in 2021.

Read on to learn more.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will continue to offer COVID-19 forbearance to qualifying multifamily property owners through March 31, 2021. Read on to learn more.

There is proposed legislation to address appraisal discrimination.

According to a 2018 report from the Brookings Institution, owner-occupied homes in majority-black neighborhoods are undervalued by $48,000 per home on average, amounting to a cumulative loss of $156 billion nationwide.

Read on to learn more.

Dustin Harris, “The Appraiser Coach,” recently outlined specifics for appraisers to refine themselves, and their appraisal businesses.

His name for this particular method is unique, to say the least.

Read on to find out what Harris’ tool is, and how it could change the way you look at things personally and professionally en route to building your business.

Dart Appraisal has acquired USAMC, a nationwide appraisal management company based near Atlanta, Ga. 

The acquisition accelerates Dart’s overall growth strategy and builds upon the previous acquisition of Atlanta-based Valuation Management Group in 2018.

Read on to learn more.

There is another key acquisition within the appraisal community.

BBG recently completed the acquisition of Nava Hurd Advisory Group, a combination of Brekan Nava Group, a Tempe, Ariz.-based commercial real estate appraisal firm, and Paradise Valley, Ariz.-based appraisal firm Hurd and Associates.

Read on to learn more.

Climate change, whether it be related to COVID-19 or natural disasters, is being thrust upon the consumer in rapid-fire fashion.

The housing industry, according to Veros Real Estate Solutions, will hardly be inoculated enough to fight off those changes. Natural disasters, though, have more than made their negative presence felt regarding house pricing as detailed by the latest research from Veros.

Read on for more details.

Low rates of household formation since the Great Recession have caused 5.7 million “missing” households, according to the latest Zillow analysis.

These missing households represent people who historically would have moved into their own home but have been unable or unwilling to do so.  

Read on to learn more.

A global pandemic and incredibly low interest rates were just two of the events that made 2020 a year unlike any other in the mortgage industry’s history, according to the latest Insights Report from mortgage advisory firm STRATMOR Group. Read on to learn more. 

ValueScape has joined NVIDIA Inception, a program designed to nurture startups revolutionizing industries with advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and data sciences. Read on to learn more.

In light of the January attack on the nation’s capital, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on 2021’s “Best State Capitals for Safety and More.” Read on to discover just where is the safest place to live.

The Mortgage Bankers Association Builder Application Survey data for December 2020 shows mortgage applications for new home purchases increased 42.2 percent compared with a year ago.

Compared to November 2020, applications increased by 0.2 percent.

Read on to learn more.

SLK Global Solutions has added Ken Fries as vice president of Business Development, according to a company release. Read on to learn more.

The latest CoreLogic Loan Performance Insights report looks at mortgage performance through October 2020.

The data suggests an improving economy provided families more security as far as loans.

Black Knight, Inc. has added new capabilities to its Expedite Close digital closing solution to facilitate fully digital real estate transactions more easily, the company announced.

The company said its Expedite Close now offers detailed, document-by-document guidance to help borrowers.

Read on to learn more.

Digital lender Blend has expanded its partnership with Freddie Mac with the integration of the company’s automated underwriting system, Loan Product Advisor. Read on to learn more.

Freddie Mac recently released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey, showing the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.65 percent, the lowest rate in the survey’s history which dates back to 1971. Read on to learn more.

There is a lot to look forward to, as well as recognizing the good job appraisers did during the pandemic crisis of 2020.

Valuation Review brings you more insight as to the appraisal profession look during the next 12 months from an appraiser panel featuring William Fall (The William Fall Group), George Paquette (CoreLogic) and Heather Sullivan (The Columbia Institute).

Read on for more of our experts’ glimpse into the future.

Typical values for Black- and Latinx-owned homes still lag behind overall U.S. home values, according to the latest Zillow analysis.

The report shows homes owned by Black and Latinx households are worth 16.2 percent and 10.2 percent less, respectively, than the typical U.S. home.

Read on for more numbers from Zillow.

Snippet: S&P Dow Jones Indices released its latest results for the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices. The data released for October 2020 show home prices continue to increase across the U.S. Read on to learn more from this report.

CBC Mortgage Agency, a nationally chartered housing finance agency and a leading source of down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers, has promoted Miki Adams to president. Read on to learn more.

Pending home sales declined in November, according to a new National Association of Realtors (NAR) report. Month-over-month contract activity fell in each of the four major U.S. regions. 

The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) fell 2.6 percent to 125.7 in November, the third straight month of decline. Year-over-year, contract signings climbed 16.4 percent. An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001.

Read on to learn more from NAR.

The Mortgage Bankers Association has hired Charmaine Brown as its director of diversity and inclusion, a newly created position for the organization. Read on for more details.