Where does the Appraiser stand in todays blame game of the declining housing market?
This was selected as Best Answer Ryan, A good appraiser, as you well know, is going to look at the sales data of comparable homes. When homes were selling quickly and you had a bona fide Sales Contract, it was relatively easy to get comparables to support the value of the property. Prior to the big bubble in real estate, it was uncommon to have appraisals come in below the sales price. Sometimes it was a small amount, sometimes it was 5% or more. An appraisal is just the expected sales price of a home when offered on an open market. If demand outstrips supply, prices will rise and the appraised value will be reflected in the market data. If you’re asking which came first the chicken or the egg, I’d say professional, honest appraisers did their job by evaluating the data and showing that market prices were indeed increasing. If you’re talking about unscrupulous appraisers that had no loyalty to their profession and filled in the blanks for a steady stream of refinances, there would cert
