News By Edition

Valuation Review sat down with Mark Walser, senior vice president at Class Valuation, who addressed some specific appraisal matters that lenders and appraisers will encounter during the overall loan transaction process.

Walser shared many aspects of the process relating to efficiency, reliability and accuracy.

Read on for more details from Part I of this exclusive feature.

For another installment in its “Women in Appraising” series, Valuation Review sat down with Laurie Egan.

Having trained under her father and grandfather immediately after high school, Egan set a course for success in her field, establishing her own appraisal firm where she brought other exceptional women into the profession.

Read on for the full story highlighting another successful woman in the appraisal field.

At the 2024 Appraisal Summit in Las Vegas, Valuation Review attended the session “Reconsideration of Value (ROV)-Why and How?”

Many aspects of ROVs were brought up by the four panel members, including lender requirements, the liabilities involved and thoughts from the AMC perspective.

Read on for the full story and hear what the expert panelists had to say.

B. Riley Financial, Inc., a diversified financial services platform, and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P., recently signed a definitive agreement.

The agreement established a partnership in a newly formed holding company.

Read on to learn more.

Velox Valuations, a national company in the real estate appraisal space, recently embarked on a new chapter with the opening of its first-ever franchise.

BBG Director Brian Walsh shared with Valuation Review some key takeaways on Ohio’s new standardized valuation process for affordable housing.

Specifically, he noted the challenges Ohio faced due to inconsistent valuation methods.

Read on to learn more.

WalletHub recently released its report on “2024’s Safest Cities in America,” highlighting where people are at the lowest risk of physical and financial harm.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) updated its house price index (HPI) to include data related to manufactured homes for the first time. The index and median prices for manufactured homes are based on data from real-property conventional mortgages acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Fannie Mae has been reminding homeowners and renters impacted by natural disasters, including those affected by Hurricane Milton, of available mortgage assistance and disaster relief options. Mortgage servicers also were reminded of options to assist homeowners under Fannie Mae’s guidelines during these circumstances.

Recent research from Zillow shows Hispanic homeowners making strides in narrowing the home value gap with white homeowners over the past two years, regaining ground lost during the pandemic.

The gap is now the narrowest ever observed.

Read on for more from this research and analysis.

First American Data & Analytics’ August 2024 Home Price Index (HPI) report showed house prices nationally sat 54.5 percent higher compared with pre-pandemic levels seen in February 2020.

Reggora recently announced the addition of a repurchase and loan-level price adjustment warranty to its appraisal review solution.

ATTOM recently released an updated monthly report on “U.S. Commercial Foreclosures.”

The report reveals that commercial foreclosures remain elevated and are still considerably higher than pre-pandemic figures.

Read on to learn more.

The Mortgage Calculator, a licensed mortgage lender, recently announced the release of a tool aimed at simplifying the process of estimating monthly FHA loan payments with live mortgage rates.

Recently, the Federal Housing Finance Agency named a deputy director of the division of enterprise regulation.

Valuation Review presents Part II of its exclusive interview with Valutrust Solutions Quality Assurance Vice President and Chief Appraiser Patrick Brown.

The continued adoption of new technology can only make things easier for appraisers, even if appraisal tech is not exactly “cutting-edge,” Brown noted.

Read on for the conclusion to this feature story.

CoreLogic recently released its latest Single-Family Rent Index, which analyzes single-family rent price changes nationally and across major metropolitan areas.

Detached rental prices rose by 2.3 percent from August 2023, compared with 2 percent for attached properties.

Read on to learn more.

The Appraisal Foundation (TAF) President Kelly Davids recently sent TAF’s November Newsletter highlights for appraisers to take notice of. Specifically, Davids pointed out the many positives that came from TAF’s Board of Trustees meeting.

Recently, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the availability of $12 million to expand access to affordable housing and homeownership opportunities for Americans in rural and urban communities across the country.