News By Edition

There are several ways residential appraisers can diversify their skills to include commercial valuation, according to Valcre co-founder and Vice President of Client Experience Grant Norling.

Valuation Review spoke with Norling about those ways and other matters relating to commercial appraising.

Read on to find out what we were told.

ASA Strategic Partnership Officer John Russell authored an article addressing Fannie Mae’s search for a more automated future and its potential impact on housing finance, especially the absence of consumer protection in the homebuying process.

Valuation Review reached out to Russell who shared his opinions on this matter.

Read on to find out what he had to say.

It’s been said in radio language that the wider the audience, the better the chance of one’s voice being heard.

And with that, some veteran appraisers wish to extend an invitation to the Clubhouse, a platform introduced in March 2020 that houses the weekly podcast, “Real Estate AppraisalTalk.”

Read on for more exclusive information on this appraiser forum Valuation Review obtained by attending the 2023 Appraiser's Conference & Trade Show (ACTS) in Sacramento, Calif..

On April 13, the Appraisal Institute (AI) sent a letter to Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Sandra Thompson that was critical of Fannie Mae’s “value acceptance” program.

AI expressed its concerns about the program’s potential effect on the valuation profession.

Read on for more of what the letter had to say.

Valbridge Property Advisors is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

The company was formed by appraisers from across the U.S. with the goal of building an independent commercial appraisal company.

Read on to learn more.

A bill that would give the Vermont Department of Taxes control of property appraisals passed the state House on March 29.

This is according to VT Digger, a publication highlighting news in the state of Vermont.

Read on for more about this proposed legislation.

Valligent, a market appraisal management company recently acquired by Veros Real Estate Solutions, announced the launch of the Valligent Appraiser Training Program to increase appraiser diversity and offer necessary resources to promote inclusion in the lending industry.

The Appraisal Subcommittee will host its second public hearing on appraisal bias May 19 at the Federal Housing Finance Agency headquarters in Washington, DC. The hearing will focus on the appraisal regulatory system.

Craig Capilla, attorney with Franklin, Greenswag, Channon & Capilla, LLC., shared with Valuation Review his perspectives on a few topics pertaining to appraisal bias.

How can the profession continue to provide the guidance and assistance appraisers need to avoid being accused of this practice?

Read on for more of our conversation with Capilla.

Delinquent home loans continued their decline in January, according to the CoreLogic Loan Performance Insights report.

CoreLogic Principal Economist Molly Boesel points out that more U.S. homeowners are involved in the foreclosure process.

Read on to learn more from the report.

Each year, the average American household spends $2,690 on real-estate property taxes, plus another $444 for residents of the 26 states with vehicle property taxes. With such high costs, it’s no surprise more than $14 billion in property taxes go unpaid each year, according to the National Tax Lien Association.

In its March newsletter, Fannie Mae provided important updates to specific matters pertinent to appraisers, specifically, hybrid appraisals, property data collection and manufactured homes.

Valuation Review concludes its conversation with Kevin Hecht of McKissock, LLC/Colibri Group from the 2023 National Association of Appraisers/Appraiser’s Conference & Trade Show in Sacramento, Calif.

Hecht, an appraisal training/development manager, educator and real estate economist, answered the question of whether or not the economy was facing a “housing bubble?”

Read on for the conclusion of this conference feature story.

In February 2023, 3 percent of mortgages were delinquent by at least 30 days or more including those in foreclosure.

This represents a 0.4 percentage point decrease in the overall delinquency rate compared with February 2022, according to CoreLogic’s Loan Performance Insights report released in April.

Read on to learn more from this report.

Quantarium, an automated valuation model provider for real estate valuations, recently announced its Quantarium Valuation Model is Fitch-rated and reviewed, according to a Fitch Ratings announcement.

The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) announced the International Association of Assessing Officers recognized its executive director as one of five association leaders selected for the ASAE’s 2023 class of Fellows.

Kroll recently launched the company’s first end-to-end commercial property valuation platform to support the placement of insurance.

The platform delivers insights at scale, providing access to global proprietary valuation data.

Read on to learn more.

Greystone, a national commercial real estate finance company, recently provided a $13,698,300 HUD-insured loan to refinance a 122-bed supportive living facility in Crestwood, Ill. The financing was originated on behalf of “The Pointe at Kilpatrick.”

STRATMOR Group’s April Insights Report suggests lenders looking to build stronger businesses in the future should consider originating home equity loans and lines of credit immediately, even if that means adding products that return lower revenues in the short term.

JLL acquired North-Carolina-based Kensington Capital Advisory, an independent financial advisory firm.

During the year, JLL has closed on several acquisitions expanding its services.

Read on for ore details about this commercial acquisition.

Recently, Veros Real Estate Solutions released its 2023 Q1 VeroFORECASTSM that anticipates home prices will be flat overall for the next 12 months.

This is a slight improvement from the 0.5 percent annual depreciation forecast just one quarter ago.

Red on for more numbers.

The Appraisal Standards Board of The Appraisal Foundation voted May 5 to adopt the Fifth Exposure Draft of proposed changes to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. The new edition will be available this fall and will become effective on Jan. 1, The Appraisal Foundation announced in a release.

Mortgage applications to purchase a home rose 8 percent the week of April 3-7, compared with the previous week, according to a report from CNBC.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances decreased to 6.30 percent from 6.40 percent.

Read on to learn more.

The Portal for Appraisal Licensing Act was reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on April 20. The bipartisan legislation is intended to modernize the real estate appraisal licensing system to reduce costs and cut red tape for appraisers and those who use the services of appraisers. 

In the Fannie Mae March newsletter, an appraiser’s question dealt with what constitutes a decommissioned ADU (accessory dwelling unit). Fannie responded with some specifics.

New data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) indicates a further decline in the number of mortgages in active forbearance. The MBA monthly loan monitoring survey found the total number of loans in forbearance at the end of March declined by 5 basis points to 0.55 percent of servicer’s portfolio volume.

For the May installment of what’s on the mind of Dustin Harris, “The Appraiser Coach,” the veteran appraiser shares insight from his blogs “Why You Should Invest in Technology,” and “You’re Chasing the Dollar… What’s the Dollar Chasing?”

Harris shares his “principles of prosperity” and just what value money has.

Read on to find out more.

Real estate agents rely on property photos today more than ever to sell homes. Two industry firms, Black Knight and Restb.ai, are teaming up to deploy this new AI-powered technology.

Intrinsic LLC, a national valuation and transaction advisory firm based in Colorado (Denver), recently announced it has launched a separate fixed asset valuation practice. Intrinsic has historically served its clients with fixed asset valuation needs through external providers.

Valuation Review concludes its conversation with SingleSource Appraisal Modernization & Quality Control Vice President Matt Stepanovich.

The Fannie Mae announcement March 1 relating to updates to its Selling Guide on appraisal modernization and value acceptance is a very “hot topic.” Many other appraisal alternatives, such as hybrids, will play a key role, Stepanovich tells us.

Read on for the conclusion of this feature story.

Wisconsin-based firm Hawkins Ash CPAs LLP has added to its partnership. The new partner will lead the company’s valuation services, focusing on transaction advisory, business transition planning and litigation services. The company has a net revenue of $24.5 million.

Lender Compliance Technologies (LCT) led a special roundtable at this year’s conference of the National Credit Union Collections Alliance that took place April 13 in Las Vegas. LCT and other industry experts spoke to attending credit unions about staying compliant and safeguarding their reputation.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge recently announced “Supplemental Grant” awards for Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grantees totaling more than $98 million. In addition, HUD is opening a notice of funding opportunity for $10 million to support local planning efforts.