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Improving the Appraisal Process to Minimize Risks: Report

Appraisals may assign a home with one exact specific value, but in reality, a home's value tends to fall into a price range due to a number of different factors, according to a Home Value Forecast report released by ""Pro Teck Valuation Services"":http://www.proteckservices.com/homevalueforecast/ and ""Collateral Analytics"":https://collateralanalytics.com/.

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Depending on how homogeneous or unique a neighborhood is, the report found that a plus or minus range of 10 percent isn't unusual. For example, a home with an average value of 300,000 may fall between $270,000 and $330,000.

Factors that can lead to the price range include inaccurate information, urgency to buy/sell, distress sales, seasonality, and thin markets.

Considering the difficulty of determining one reliable value for a home, the report suggested establishing a range of value and improving data to support market condition conclusions in order to better protect homeowners and investors.

In unique markets such as La Jolla, California, the report explained the value range actually widens, compared to markets with less variation, such as Toms River, New Jersey.

Home Value Forecast analyzed a particular zip code in each city. For Toms River, zip code 08757 was selected for its homogeneity, while in La Jolla, the selected zip was 92037. Home Value Forecast found that Toms River had a value range of above or below the 5 percent, while La Jolla fell into a 10 to 15 percent plus or minus range.

To address the variances, Home Value Forecast argued for a value range in addition to an appraiser's point value.

The Market Condition Addendum (form 1004MC), which was required by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as of April 1, 2009 for 1-4 unit properties, is another way appraisals can be improved, according to the report.

The addendum was introduced to bring greater transparency to conclusions made by appraisers on market trends and conditions.

According to the report, the form requires an analysis of inventory, trends in median sale price, list price, days on market (DOM), Sale-to-List price ratio, and impact of foreclosures and REOs.

""Developing the most accurate and supported market condition conclusions can be aided with analytical tools developed to assist the appraiser in analyzing a potentially large set of market data,"" added Tom O'Grady, CEO of Pro Teck Valuation Services.

Grady explained appraisals based on incomplete data or faulty trend information can lead to a wrong conclusion, which can negatively impact a loan if an increasing market is misreported as stable or decreasing and vice versa.

About Author: Esther Cho

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