News By Edition

At the 2022 Appraisal Institute Conference in Las Vegas, the organization’s annual Women’s Initiative Committee SPOTLIGHT Award recipient was Claire Aufrance.

Valuation Review sat down with the owner of Aufrance Valuations, LLC to get her perspectives on the profession overall and her journey to becoming a successful appraiser and businesswoman.

Read on for the full conversation with this successful businesswoman.

The old adage “two heads are better than one” can certainly be applied to businesses at all levels.

The partnership formed between Clear Capital and Cherre is just another example of that, and Valuation Review spoke with the companies’ executives about this move and how it will help expand access to market and property information.

Read on to find out what more the company executives had to say.

Valuation Review shares the thoughts of veteran Florida appraiser Tim Andersen, the host of the podcast “The Appraiser’s Advocate,” who touched on a variety of subjects.

Training, and the Fannie Mae ANSI Standards were just a couple of topic discussions.

Read on to learn more.

AppraisalWorks, a provider of real estate appraisal management technology, recently announced a partnership with Mortgage Cadence.

This move will allow lenders to consolidate multiple appraisal vendor and order management systems onto the AppraisalWorks platform.

Read on for more details about this partnership.

McKissock Learning, a national provider of online education for real estate appraisers, recently announced its commitment to launch a Practical Applications of Real Estate Appraisal (PAREA) Experience Program. This is to support the diversification and growth of the appraisal profession.

The Appraisal Institute Board of Directors voted to adopt one 45-Day Notice item during its Nov. 10-11 meeting in Chicago. The 45-Day Notice item addresses proposed amendments to the bylaws regarding the International Member on the Board.

Colliers, a diversified professional services and investment management company, recently announced the appointment of an executive managing director. The position deals with portfolio management within the company’s Valuation and Advisory Services U.S. business.

Cushman & Wakefield recently announced a new hire for its Valuation & Advisory Living Sectors practice in Denver. The new executive director assumes his role with more than 25 years of real estate appraisal and consulting experience.

The Appraisal Institute announced that CEO Jim Amorin will resign effective Feb. 14, 2023. He will conclude five years of service as the organization’s CEO and is moving on to pursue other opportunities.

A new survey from Freddie Mac found that 64 percent of active duty servicemembers transitioning to civilian life expect their search for affordable housing to be extremely or somewhat challenging. The survey also found that the majority of veterans believe VA Home Loans provide a clear pathway to homeownership.

Reggora, an appraisal management software company that offers residential real estate valuation for mortgage lenders, recently announced the results of its 2022 borrower experience survey.

The report detailed the importance of the appraisal with the overall borrower satisfaction during the lending process.

Read on for more information.

ATTOM’s latest residential property mortgage origination report shows 1.97 million mortgages originated in the third quarter. That’s down 19 percent from the second quarter and down 47 percent from the third quarter of 2021.

Commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations decreased 13 percent in the third quarter from a year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) quarterly survey of commercial/multifamily mortgage bankers originations. An MBA executive noted different capital sources are feeling the slowdown in different ways.

Opteon, an international provider of valuation, advisory, and property services, recently announced the launch of Spectrum RE Solutions, its alternative valuation solutions offering. Powered by Opteon, this division will provide clients with more speed, control, and a larger platform to support their real estate valuation needs.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently published its new Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) Aggregate Statistics Data File. FHFA also launched UAD Aggregate Statistics Dashboards on its website to provide user-friendly visualizations of the newly available data.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Aboussie Pavilion Apartments, an affordable rental housing provider in St. Louis, executed a voluntary compliance agreement related to its tenant screening process.

There is an understanding that automated valuation models (AVMs) don’t always provide the most reliable home valuations, where uncertainty can cause problems when distressed properties are involved.

Valuation Review spoke with a chief strategy and technology officer about the advantages of increasing AVM accuracy.

Read on for the full conversation.

Earlier, Valuation Review reported on Stellar, a venture-backed technology-driven marketplace which solves maintenance at scale for the Single-Family Rental market, receiving Series B growth equity financing.

We caught up with Stellar founder Dustin Marx for more insight as to what this funding means for technology and market valuation growth.

Read on to find out what Marx had to say.

Class Valuation recently announced another key acquisition in PropertyVal.

Founded in 2006, PropertyVal is an AMC started by Robert and Amy Strong and is headquartered in Freeport, Maine.

Read on to learn more about this acquisition.

In the Fannie Mae “Appraiser Update” section of the December 2022 newsletter, the subject of desktop appraisals is discussed, providing tips for appraisers utilizing this method of valuation. Third-party data is always a concern, Fannie Mae said, but appraisers should remember to recognize certain factors moving forward.

ATTOM, a curator of real estate data nationwide for land and property data, recently released its 2022 Grocery Store Wars analysis, which shows how living near a Trader Joe’s, a Whole Foods or an ALDI might affect a home’s value.  This applies to homebuyers based on home price appreciation and home equity, or an investor looking for the best home-flipping returns and home seller ROI.

The Fourth Exposure Draft of proposed changes to USPAP is available for review and comment. The Appraisal Foundation reminds appraisers that public comments are critical to the development of new editions of USPAP, and the Appraisal Standards Board values all input it receives.

BBG, the independent commercial real estate services firm, recently appointed a seniors housing industry leader to the position of executive vice president.

He will be based in the firm’s Atlanta office.

Read on to learn the identity of this company executive.

Accurate Group, a provider of technology-driven real estate appraisal, title data, analytics, and e-closing solutions, recently announced a strategic partnership with Mortgage Cadence.

The partnership will allow lenders to access Accurate Group technology via the Mortgage Cadence Collaboration Center. 

Read on to learn more benefits from this partnership.

Kroll, an independent provider of global risk and financial advisory solutions, recently announced the acquisition of Appraisal & Valuation Consultants LTD (AVC).  

AVC is an independent firm that specializes in the valuation of oil, gas, petrochemical, chemical, power, mining, metals processing and offshore facilities for insurance and other purposes.

Read on to learn more about this acquisition.

Earlier, Valuation Review introduced its audience to the House passing H.R. Bill 7735, the Improving Access to the VA Home Loan Benefit Act of 2022. On Dec. 20, the Senate gave its approval, passing the legislation. The passage met with much approval within the Mortgage Bankers Association.

A local property appraiser from Pella (Marion County, Iowa) is accused of forging documents and evaluating properties he wasn’t licensed for. According to court records, he was arrested and charged with three felony counts of forgery.

Reggora, an appraisal management software company providing residential real estate valuation services for mortgage lenders, worked with STRATMOR Group to quantify mortgage lender appraisal operations and performance. The company said it is saving the typical lender a significant dollar amount per loan.

Altisource, an integrated service provider and marketplace for the real estate and mortgage industries, launched NestRange as a cost-effective, data-informed automated valuation model that estimates the value of residential properties. This SaaS product leverages a national property database, geospatial comparable data, machine learning and Artificial Intelligence.

Once again, it is the time of the year to ask appraisers what their ideal gift from Santa Claus is.

Appraisers, legal experts and organizations were kind enough to reveal what they’re hoping for this holiday season.

Read on to find out what is on the industry's list.

Existing home sales fell for the ninth straight month in October, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors.

Valuation Review sat down with Matt Picheny, a New York-based real estate investor, for his thoughts on what is driving the trends and what can be expected looking ahead.

Read on for more from Picheny.

Valuation Review went out West to seek the thoughts of a veteran appraiser.

We spoke to Chris Nelson, of AppraisalONE in Nevada, who shared his thoughts about the profession.

Read on for the full conversation.

The Appraisal Institute announced a new person will assume the duties of president effective Jan. 1. His one-year term as president will be followed by one year as immediate past president in 2024.

A five-year, $5 million grant by Wells Fargo will create the Diverse Appraiser Initiative with a goal of certifying up to 260 new appraisers through Urban League Entrepreneurship Centers in Charlotte, Atlanta and Houston starting in 2023. Home appraisal as an industry lacks racial and ethnic diversity, according to national studies.

The Appraisal Foundation (TAF) President David Bunton reports November was a busy month at TAF. Both the Board of Trustees and The Appraisal Foundation Advisory Council held their final meetings of 2022.

October Research, LLC welcomed Teresa Payne, administrator for HUD’s Office of Manufactured Housing, Office of Housing, and Esther Yamashiro, housing program officer of the Santa Ana Homeownership Center, Federal Housing Administration (FHA), to discuss the benefits of manufactured housing.

Earlier, Valuation Review brought to its readers’ attention the technological partnership between Outamation and a360inc regarding new digital transformation options.

As a follow-up to that announcement, we caught up with the Outamation CEO Sapan Bafna for a more in-depth analysis about this technology.

Read on for the full conversation with Bafna.

Midwestern markets will heat up, and more friends and family members will pool their money to buy homes together in 2023, according to Zillow.

Also, individuals will look for new ways to overcome the housing affordability crisis.

Read on for more results from the Zillow analysis.

Recently, the Data & Analytics division of Black Knight, Inc. released its latest Mortgage Monitor Report.

Despite home price corrections continuing in many markets nationwide driven by tight affordability and higher rates, the pace of price declines has slowed measurably over the past two months.

Read on to learn more.

Stellar, a venture-backed technology-driven marketplace which solves maintenance at scale for the Single-Family Rental market, recently announced a $20 million raise in Series B growth equity financing. The funding round was led by new investor Weatherford Capital and also was supported by existing investors Brick & Mortar Ventures, S3 Ventures, Alerion Ventures, and Navigate Ventures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency recently announced the conforming loan limit values (CLLs) for mortgages to be acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2023. In most of the United States, the 2023 CLL value for one-unit properties will be $726,200, an increase of $79,000 from $647,200 in 2022.

Homebuyers need to earn substantially more money than they did a year ago to buy a home, according to Redfin. That’s due to mortgage rates more than doubling over the last year, combined with persistently high home prices.