The prices of homes have increased and foreclosures are a lot less frequent, but some appraisers say that giving a value to a property remains an issue.
While the local housing market has improved and given appraisers properties to compare to determine a concrete value, appraisers say they’re still having difficulties.
Real estate agents claim that appraisers are forcing them to come down on their price and renegotiate contracts with buyers by not sending in appraisals.
“That’s been happening a lot this spring—the appraisal isn’t coming in,” said Alvin “Chip” Wagner, of A.L. Wagner Appraisal Group Inc. “It’s an appreciating market, and the closed data that appraisers use is behind what the homes are actually selling for right now. We’re just now on the cusp of good data.”
Appraisers insist that they are using quality data to base their valuations, in addition to the buyers and sellers’ motivations.
“Consumers don’t always use us in a friendly light because we are the person coming in and saying yea or nay, and we’ve been the bearer of bad news for too many years,” said Sharon Bagby, an appraiser with Crystal Lake Appraisal Service Inc. “Homeowners don’t really know where the values are. They’re hearing some really rosy values in some markets, but we have to work with the value that’s there.”
Wagner said that he does see signs of appreciation in the marketplace, a small percentage that has been going up in the past six months, and national economists suggest even more appreciation than Wagner.
However, John McMahon, an appraiser at McMahon-Baldwin Associates said that sellers shouldn’t be excited about this.
“Even within a neighborhood, you can have different property trends, be it attached or detached, or price ranges,” McMahon said. “There can be a demand for one price range or not a price range.”