Hot off the press - waiver news.

[Tom D]

Appraisal Waiver Rates Hold Steady but Below Pandemic Peaks ​

Appraisal waivers remain present in the mortgage market, but new data show their use in purchase lending has settled far below the highs reached during the pandemic. According to the AEI Housing Center’s June 2025 update, the combined share of appraisal waivers across Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stood at 16% of all loans a one-point dip from May and down dramatically from the March 2021 peak of nearly 50%.
Freddie Still Leads in Purchase Waivers
Freddie Mac continues to allow more purchase loans to close without a full appraisal. In June, 17.1% of Freddie Mac purchase loans used a waiver, with another 1.6% relying on its data-collection alternative, ACE+PDR. Together, nearly one in five Freddie purchase loans bypassed a traditional appraisal.
Fannie’s Expansion Fuels Modest Uptick
Fannie Mae’s purchase waiver rate was lower, at 11.5%, with another 2.0% using Value Acceptance + Property Data (VA+PD) and 0.3% using the “value” version of VA+PD. However, the impact of Fannie’s Q1 2025 expansion to 80–90% CLTV purchase loans is already visible. About 15% of these higher-LTV loans used a waiver in June, compared to just 2% in February. This rapid growth suggests lenders are beginning to take advantage of the broader eligibility window.

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[alebrewer]

I think there are still quite a few waiver offerings that aren't being taken advantage of cuz folks aren't used to looking at AUS to see if the waiver is offered. As more and more folks get accustomed to (and are aware of) the expanded waiver offerings, I expect to see a continuing increase in the ratio of waivers to appraisals.

 

[J Grant]

Many buyers do not want a WAIVER because the protection of an appraisal to get out of the deal if the Market value is below the sale prices is gone. Even NAR realtor articles and responsible mortgage lenders counsel about that fact.