Originally published on January 21, 2025, by The Appraisal Institute for EINPressWire.

In the wake of recent natural disasters, including the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles and hurricanes across the southeastern United States, the Appraisal Institute urges property owners and businesses to seek expert advice before accepting direct cash buyouts from insurance companies to settle claims. Understanding the complexities of insurance settlements requires a clear property value assessment, especially during such challenging times.

Insurance companies often offer cash settlements to expedite claims after disasters. While these offers may seem straightforward, they may not fully reflect the real value of the property or its recovery potential. The Appraisal Institute emphasizes the importance of working with highly trained and objective real estate appraisers, including SRA-designated professionals for residential properties and MAI-designated professionals for businesses and commercial properties.

In a statement, Paula Konikoff, JD, MAI, AI-GRS, President of the Appraisal Institute, underscored the value of consulting designated appraisers:

“Natural disasters create significant challenges for property owners and businesses, particularly when navigating insurance settlements. Consulting with SRA- or MAI-designated appraisers provides access to highly qualified professionals who can deliver unbiased, accurate valuations to help owners make informed decisions. These insights are critical to ensuring that settlements align with the property's true value, protecting financial interests during recovery and rebuilding.”

Originally published on December 13, 2024 by The Appraisal Institute.

A study on the use of time adjustments by appraisers conducted by two researchers at the Federal Housing Finance Agency in November contains serious flaws that misrepresent the appraisal process and further demonize the appraisal profession regarding racial bias.

The study, Underappraisal Disparities and Time Adjustments to Comparable Sales Prices in Mortgage Appraisals, contends that appraised values often fail to reflect rapidly increasing home prices in competitive markets. It further raises housing equity concerns, claiming that time adjustments are used less to cure “underappraisal” in majority Black and Hispanic neighborhoods than in major White neighborhoods. The study suggests appraisers should use automated valuation models, and lenders should randomly assign appraisal orders to mitigate bias.

For one, the assumption that appraisals should ideally mirror the pace of rising market prices oversimplifies the role of appraisers and the appraisal process. The study does not sufficiently account for the complexity of making time adjustments in markets with uneven price growth or where transaction volumes are low, limiting the availability of comparable sales.

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Originally published on November 19, 2024 by The Appraisal Institute.

The Appraisal Institute is pleased to announce the release of A Guide to Appraising Religious Properties by Bradley R. Carter, MAI, a leading authority in the field of property valuation. This pivotal new book offers a comprehensive look into the field of appraising religious properties, providing invaluable insights amid the evolving landscape of real estate and religious institutions.

Originally published on May 10, 2024, by the Appraisal Institute. 

The Appraisal Institute, the leading association of real estate appraisers, released highlights of its Second Quarter Board Meetings, May 9-10, 2024. Chief Executive Cindy Chance, PhD, updated the Board on organizational change, progress and challenges since the first quarter meeting in late February. President Sandy Adomatis, SRA, chaired the meeting at which the Board deliberated on a number of topics with the goal of serving its mission and members’ interests.

Originally published by Jacob Channel for Lending Tree on December 4, 2023. 

Though home prices have come down in some areas, they remain steep across the U.S.

Originally published on December 13, 2023, by Isabelle Novak for Redfin.

The median U.S. asking rent declined 2.1% year over year in November to $1,967—the biggest annual drop since February 2020—according to a report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage. This is a 0.6% decline in asking rents since October.

Originally published on December 12, 2023, by CBRE.

Economic growth is expected to slow in 2024 and real estate transaction values should decline further, which could create compelling buying opportunities, although lending is expected to remain tight, CBRE reported Dec. 14 in its 2024 U.S. Real Estate Outlook. However, the firm also reported that it expects commercial real estate values to rebound during the second half of the year.

Executive Summary

• There is an increased chance that the U.S. will avoid a recession and achieve a soft economic landing in 2024, but economic growth will slow and downside risks are elevated.
• Commercial real estate investment activity likely will begin to pick up in the second half of 2024.
• The normalization of hybrid working arrangements will continue to limit the growth of office demand.

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Originally published on December 5, 2023, by Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) teamed up to introduce the bicameral End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act of 2023. This legislation responds directly and forcefully to a persistent and growing problem — What Happens When Wall Street Buys Most of the Homes on Your Block? The purchasing of single-family homes by hedge funds, especially in the current housing market, has made it more difficult for middle-class Americans to become homeowners and is contributing to America’s twin crises of housing unaffordability and wealth inequality.
 
“In 1971, my father was able to buy the house I grew up in for $15,000 on the salary he earned as a baggage handler at SeaTac Airport. That same house would cost nearly $500,000 today yet wages for workers like my father have not kept up. Too many families in the Puget Sound region and across the country are struggling to afford to rent or buy a home. This crisis has been exacerbated in recent years by an increasing number of large investors purchasing a significant percentage of single-family homes, squeezing out prospective buyers,” said Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.). “Congress must take action to crack down on corporate greed and get hedge funds out of the single-family home market. The bill I’m introducing today with my colleagues would ban these problematic hedge funds from the single-family housing market and claw back some of the homes they already own so that more American families have a fair shot at becoming homeowners.”
 
“The housing in our neighborhoods should be homes for people, not profit centers for Wall Street. Yet, in every corner of the country, giant financial corporations are buying up housing and driving up both rents and home prices,” said Senator Merkley. “It’s time for Congress to put in place commonsense guardrails that ensure all families have a fair chance to buy or rent a decent home in their community at a price they can afford.”

Originally published in December 2023, by the Appraisal Institute.

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Originally published on November 14, 2023, by the ATTOM Team.

ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property, and real estate data, today released its October 2023 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows there were a total of 34,472 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions — down 6 percent from a month ago but up 6 percent from a year ago.

Originally published on November 21, 2023, by the Economy Team at CoreLogic.

• Nationwide, single-family rent prices increased by 2.6% year over year in September.
• Rental costs declined by -0.2% from August to September, which is in line with seasonal trends recorded over the 15 years before the pandemic.
• Lower-priced rental gains have outpaced the high-priced tier over the last three years.
• St. Louis led the nation for annual rent growth, while Austin, Texas; Las Vegas, and Miami again posted declines.

CoreLogic®, a leading global property information, analytics, and data-enabled solutions provider, today released its latest Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI), which analyzes single-family rent price changes nationally and across major metropolitan areas.  

Originally published on November 22, 2023, by Erik Sherman for GlobeSt.com.

Office valuations and rents have been hit hard by changing conditions of work and how companies are being forced to manage their real estate. But what’s happening with tech office use, particularly in the wake of the Biden administration's tech hubs strategy?

Originally published on November 8, 2023, by Zachariah Demuth, Jessica Jahns, Marina Bracciani and Ophelia Makis for JLL.

Originally published on October 31, 2023, by Ella Fertitta for ULI Americas.

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PwC US today released Emerging Trends in Real Estate® 2024, the annual industry-leading report unveiling critical data and trends in the real estate sector. In its 45th edition, the report’s overarching theme is “The Great Reset,” determining that the industry must form new ‘norms’ and can no longer rely on past benchmarks to determine how the market will function in the future.

Originally published on November 7, 2023 by Matt Wirz for the Wall Street Journal.

U.S. banks have found a new way to unload risk as they scramble to adapt to tighter regulations and rising interest rates.

Originally published on October 30, 2023, by Nicole Bachaud for ZIllow.com.

The cost of buying a home has soared over the past few years with home values near record highs and mortgage rates higher than they’ve been in 20 years. New home buyers can expect to spend approximately 13.5 years in their house before they would be able to sell at a profit over the purchase, mortgage interest, and sale costs that went into the home.

Originally published on October 25, 2023, by Elizabeth Thompson for the National Association of Home Builders.

Despite mortgage rates that are at a 23-year high, new home sales posted a double-digit percentage gain in September because of a lack of inventory in the resale market.

Originally published on October 12, 2023, by Anneliese Mahoney for Mortgage Bankers Association

Originally published on October 5, 2023, by Heather Zeller for VeroFORECAST

SANTA ANA, Calif., Oct. 5, 2023 —Veros Real Estate Solutions (Veros®), an industry leader in enterprise risk management and collateral valuation services, released its 2023 Q3 VeroFORECASTSM that anticipates that home prices are expected to increase on average 2.2% over the next 12 months, compared to last quarter’s forecast of 1.7% increase, indicative of a steady market.

Originally published on October 12, 2023, by Andrea Nicole for RentCafe.com.

U.S. cities are buzzing with new apartment buildings — more than we’ve seen in decades. So, if you’ve noticed more cranes against your city’s skyline recently, you’re not alone. In fact, this boom is turning certain neighborhoods into hotspots for new apartments, attracting mostly young, high-earning folks chasing the dream of urban apartment living.