News By Edition

Valuation Review caught up again with Incenter Appraisal Management President Mark Walser, who discussed many topics of interest to appraisers.

Specifically, he discussed how appraisers can assist in the homebuying process, along with technology matters facing the industry today.

Read more of Part I of our interview with Walser.

Valuation Review spoke with Rhino Chief Revenue Officer Andrew Delbridge about decreasing rental property prices.

The company executive addressed reasons for the apparent faltering after three years of reasonably steady numbers.

Read on for the full conversation with Delbridge.

For this month’s installment of appraiser tips from Dustin Harris, “The Appraiser Coach,” Harris looks at how one can achieve productivity, in addition to keeping in mind the importance of integrity and what increases productivity.

Harris also spoke to avoiding temptation, and how that is always the better choice.

Read on to learn more.

Valuation Review examines the latest in rural and agricultural appraising.

We spoke with Douglas Hodge, a veteran rural appraiser with Capstone Realty Resources/Valuation Analytics, who shared some updates with us, as well as discussed challenges facing rural and agriculture appraisers today.

Hodge discussed the many facets in rural and agriculture appraising.

The White House released a fact sheet stating homeownership remains a central part of the American dream and the primary contributor to generational wealth building and housing stability for millions of families.

On the anniversary of the creation of the PAVE Task Force and the start of National Homeownership Month, the Biden-Harris administration announced a set of meaningful actions to deliver on the PAVE Action Plan.

Read on to learn more.

Five federal regulatory agencies recently requested public comment on proposed guidance addressing reconsiderations of value (ROV) for residential real estate transactions. The proposed guidance advises on policies that financial institutions may implement to allow consumers to provide financial institutions with information that may not have been considered during an appraisal or if deficiencies are identified in the original appraisal.

Following the updates announced in March regarding valuation modernization, Fannie Mae disclosed its Value Acceptance plus Property Data Collection program under a new enumeration called “Appraisal Waiver plus Property Data Collection – Condition.” This is being introduced within the Property Valuation Method attribute, which began June 20 in Fannie’s single-family mortgage-backed securities disclosures.

Recently, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell announced that Fed did not raise interest rates again.

Valuation Review spoke with Thomas Malone, an economist at CoreLogic, who shared his thoughts on how mega-investors, iBuyers and home flippers will have an effect on the housing market, as well as what the Fed announcement will mean.

Read on to find out what Malone told us. 

Class Valuation continues to modernize appraisals by integrating with CoreLogic’s suite of valuation workflow solutions. Over the past few months, Class Valuation has implemented integrations with products within CoreLogic’s valuation workflow solutions.

Clear Capital recently announced its integration is now built on the latest Encompass Partner Connect API Platform and available through ICE Mortgage Technology, a part of Intercontinental Exchange and a leading provider of data, technology and market infrastructure.

Connexions, an appraisal management software provider, recently announced its integration with CAPTURE Data Services supporting the Fannie Mae Value Acceptance + Property Data framework.

Nationwide Property & Appraisal Services recently introduced Merge AVM Reconciliation, a solution designed to help lenders effortlessly meet the requirements of an evaluation under the Interagency Guidelines for Appraisals and Evaluations.

Dustin Harris, “The Appraiser Coach,” shares two key appraisal methods from his blogs “Principles of Prosperity: The Final Word” and “The Decision to Act.”

Harris points out the principal steps one needs to take to be successful, while great ideas without action behind them don’t get very far.

Read on for more advice from the "coach."

At the 2023 National Settlement Services Summit, SoftPro Director of Regulatory Compliance Leslie Wyatt presented a workshop on how to successfully establish a mentoring program.

In an interview, she shared specifics on what mentoring can do for both individuals and companies.

Read on to learn more.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac should be transparent as they develop final lending requirements for condominiums and housing cooperatives, says Community Associations Institute, the Community Home Lenders of America, and the National Association of Realtors.

Artificial intelligence (AI) services provider Pythonic Corp. recently announced its integration with Stewart Lender Services.

Incenter Appraisal Management President Mark Walser, in Part II of this feature story, emphasized the importance of appraisers considering some matters from lender’s point of view.

Walser also said discussed costs, speed and ease of process from such a viewpoint.

Read the conclusion of this Valuation Review feature story.

Recently, Veros Real Estate Solutions released its 2023 Q2 VeroFORECASTSM that anticipates a strengthening housing market for the next year.

Home prices, on average, are expected to increase 1.7 percent over the next 12 months compared with a flat forecast last quarter, signaling a possible light at the end of the tunnel.

Read on for more from this report.

In April, the CoreLogic S&P Case-Shiller Index fell by 0.24 percent year-over-year, the first annual loss since April of 2012.

However, the annual decline reflects price drops that occurred in 2022. 

Read on to learn more.

Lender Toolkit, a provider of automated mortgage technology solutions powered by artificial intelligence, recently announced it is now integrated with Reggora, an appraisal management software company for mortgage lenders. The integration enables Reggora’s appraisal management workflow and resulting datapoints to be digitally transferred to Lender Toolkit’s AI Underwriter.

To combat the challenges lenders face in deploying and managing models, Experian recently announced the launch of Ascend Ops. Experian’s first-of-its-kind solution empowers lenders to deploy new features and models in days or weeks instead of months.

Recently, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the pending publication of the Final Inspection Standards Notice for the National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate in the Federal Register. The notice details inspectable items at HUD-assisted and multifamily-insured properties.

CoreLogic recently released its Home Price Index (HPI) and HPI Forecast for April.

Nationwide, single-family home price growth rose by 2 percent year-over-year in April.

Read on for more numbers from this report.

National appraisal management company PCV Murcor is using artificial intelligence technology to catch red flags in appraisal reports. The company, founded in 1981, has a long track record of providing valuation products and services according to its senior vice president of operations.

Opteon Appraisal, Inc., released a first-in-industry technology platform to deliver 1004D final inspections from the field.

In June, The Appraisal Foundation announced it is seeking qualified candidates to fill two public interest positions on its Board of Trustees. One is open to anyone with an interest in valuation to fill the remainder of a term ending Dec. 31, 2025, while the second position, with a three-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2024, is reserved for an individual whose principal profession is in academia.