News By Edition

The Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) of The Appraisal Foundation is seeking comments from appraisers as to its paper assessing the college degree requirements for appraisers.

Veteran appraiser and Realtor Francois Gregoire sat down with Valuation Review to share his independent thoughts on what the AQB is proposing.

Read on to find out what Gregoire shared with us.

Earlier, Valuation Review sat down with Kelly Davids, the newly appointed president of The Appraisal Foundation (TAF), to get to know her better and have her share her philosophies and goals for the appraisal profession.

Now, Davids shares her account of the first 100 days in the TAF president’s chair.

Read on for the full conversation.

One company is making the effort to offer fast and accurate appraisal services to those in need.

In Seattle, one business is expanding its presence within the region.

Read on to learn more.

Class Valuation recently announced the appointment of a new chief operating officer.

JLL’s Value and Risk Advisory platform recently hired two individuals to focus on seniors housing and healthcare properties within its alternatives group.

The group will be led by Executive Managing Director Bryan Lockard.

Read on for more details.

The Appraisal Institute recently released the third in its series of short videos profiling real estate appraisers, “What I Value.” Each video highlights their professional commitment to the public trust and their communities, and different ways that appraisers bring high-level professional expertise and experience to their communities and the real estate industry.

Comments related to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s request for information on mortgage closing costs came to the Federal Register’s portal. Many of the comments were submitted anonymously but some appraisers and appraisal organizations weighed in on this matter.

On July 15, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced it charged multiple entities with housing discrimination for issuing a biased appraisal and then denying a refinance loan application in Denver, Colo.

Valuation Review reached out to the entities named for their response to these allegations.

Read on for all the details.

Patrice Ficklin, the founding director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Office of Fair Lending & Equal Opportunity, is rejoining Fannie Mae, several industry sources announced.

Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased year-over-year by 4.9 percent in May compared with May 2023, according to CoreLogic’s Home Price Index.

On a month-over-month basis, home prices grew by 0.6 percent in May compared with April.

Read on for more of this market analysis.

VantageScore, a national credit-scoring company, recently announced the release of a comprehensive, loan level historical data set to mortgage industry participants.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency recently announced a set of required tenant protections for multifamily properties financed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This announcement represents the first-time tenant protections will be a standard component of Enterprise multifamily financing.

Archwest Capital, a lender specializing in non-owner-occupied residential real estate loan solutions, recently announced it secured an investment from Bain Capital. Bain Capital and its affiliates will acquire a controlling stake in the company.

Valuation Review caught up with Chris Flynn, head of product and strategy at First American Data and Analytics.

He gave some insight on the integration of ACI’s digital platform with Resb.ai.

Read on for the full story.

AppraisalWorks, a real estate appraisal technology company, recently announced a private real estate investor lender successfully implemented its appraisal management technology platform to streamline appraisal operations and improve profitability.

BBG recently announced the appointment of an industry veteran who will hold the position of managing director.

He will assume those duties at the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Read on to find out the identity of this new hire.

The CoreLogic S&P Case-Shiller Index slowed to a 5.9 percent year-over-year gain in May after peaking at 6.5 percent in both February and March of this year.

May marked the 11th straight month of annual appreciation.

Read on for more details.

Dart Appraisal, a nationwide appraisal management company, recently celebrated a milestone in its 31-year history involving President Michael Dresden.

Block Appraisals recently announced the inauguration of its new real estate property appraisal business.

Nearly one in every five (17.3 percent) house hunters are willing to sacrifice their physical safety to find a home they can afford within the next year, according to a new report from Redfin.

Valuation Review has arrived in Las Vegas to attend the 2024 Val Expo conference from the Caesar’s Palace Hotel, Aug. 19-21.

We look forward to sharing highlights from the many sessions and activities at this year’s event.

Read on for a small preview.

A recent Zillow analysis looked at the values of luxury homes and how they have consistently lagged the market’s middle tier over the past several years.

Additionally, the market report showed luxury residencies outpacing appreciation on typical homes for five consecutive months.

Read on for more analysis from this report.

The tremendous impact collaboration can have on industry growth was a central theme during the 2024 National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) in Naples, Fla.

Leaders from the top mortgage lenders took part in a panel discussion on the need for all business segments to collaborate across the real estate transaction to navigate shared challenges, including a banking executive speaking to appraisal bias.

Read on to learn more.

BBG Real Estate Services Executive Managing Director Grant Griffin and Senior Managing Director John Wright, Jr. recently shared their thoughts on commercial mortgage-backed securities with Valuation Review.

What do appraisers need to know about this?

Read on for all of the insight.

North Sound Valuation of Bellevue, a Washington-based real estate appraisal company, recently announced the expansion of both its service areas and technological capabilities.

In Part II of our follow up to the agencies issuing a final ruling pertinent to automated valuation models (AVMs), Valuation Review gathered more insight from appraisers and organizations.

In addition to changes, challenges will also be on the horizon moving forward with AVM usage.

Read on for the conclusion of this feature story.

Voxtur Analytics Corp. announced a new strategic engagement with Deephaven, a non-agency mortgage aggregator.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently announced more than $150 million was awarded for new affordable and innovative housing investments in tribal communities.

The Appraiser Qualifications Board recently released specific questions pertaining to guidance on valuation bias, fair housing laws and regulations and course requirements.

Kiavi, a provider of capital to residential real estate investors, recently announced it closed another unrated securitization of residential transition loans. This marks Kiavi’s 18th transaction under its LHOME shelf.

First American Data & Analytics released its June 2024 Home Price Index report.

Loren Cooke, president of Solidifi, has more than two decades of experience in the financial services and real estate valuation industries.

Valuation Review recently sat down with Cooke to discuss appraisal matters, as well as his company’s growth.

Read on to learn what he told us.

Valuation Review recently spoke with Tony Pistilli, an appraiser, and the current general manager of valuations at Restb.ai, to get his thoughts on change being a good thing for appraisers.

Specifically, Pistilli addressed technology changes that truly benefit the profession.

Read on for the full conversation.

Cushman & Wakefield recently announced the firm hired an executive director.

This individual brings a wealth of experience in commercial and special use property appraisals, among other areas.

Read on to learn the identity of this new hire.

The ASA filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court supporting petitioners Bowers & Kubota Consulting in their effort to recover attorneys’ fees and costs from the government under the Equal Access to Justice Act.

Settlement Solutions, an Ohio-based full-suite provider of commercial and residential real estate settlement solutions, recently released results from an analysis across 10 states that showed home appraisals were higher than sale prices more than half the time.

Property data curator ATTOM released its Mid-Year 2024 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which showed there were a total of 177,431 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in the first six months of 2024.

Valuation Review caught up with Tim Hansen, veteran appraiser and director of the appraisal and valuation services office at the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) at a recent appraisal conference.

We sat down with Hansen to discuss non-lending work and specific programs under the oversight of the DOI.

Read on for the full conversation with Hansen.

Fayetteville State University recently launched a real estate appraisal education and training program in partnership with The National Society of Real Estate Appraisers and McKissock Learning, aimed at developing a pipeline of residential and commercial appraisers.

With just 32 percent of home purchases last year made by first-time buyers, below the historical average of 40 percent, the personal-finance website WalletHub recently released its report on the “Best & Worst Cities for First-Time Home Buyers in 2024.”

VestaPlus LLC, a software development firm known for its agent-focused MLS solutions, recently announced a strategic partnership with the Staten Island MLS (SIMLS). The collaboration includes licensing the Checkmate listing violation detection software to SIMLS.

Change.

In Dustin Harris’ (“The Appraiser Coach”) blog, “Technology for the Changing World of Valuation,” the Idaho appraiser dives into tech changes for the appraiser.

Read on for more insight from Harris.

CRED iQ, an official market data provider for the commercial real estate and financial industries, recently analyzed properties that were re-appraised in 2023 and the first half of this year. 

The research team wanted to identify trends and explore any associated insights of what lies ahead in the second half. 

Read on for more information.

Chevron Federal Credit Union, based in Concord, Calif., has successfully implemented Blue Sage Solutions’ cloud-based digital lending platform.

Five agencies recently finalized guidance addressing reconsiderations of value for residential real estate valuations.

Six federal regulatory agencies recently issued a final rule, pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, implementing quality control standards for automated valuation models designed to help ensure their credibility and integrity.