Is The Appraisal Market Slowing?

[John "Corky" Harry]

i am with you austin, but you forgot loan officers/orginators/whatever they are. hate to shoot santa in the groin but they are nothing but a bunch of sugar-coating, manipulating, stubborn "whatevers". will not talk to them, only talk to the processors. time to take a break.8)

 

[Doug in NC]

Yes, it is slow here in NC. I have also heard that at least 2 other area appraisal offices have been slow as well. I have taken the week off to spend with my kids who are on vacation this week. It hasn't been this slow in many months, but I am taking advantage of it. I just hope I will be able to get back into the grind next week if it gets busy again. Ugghhh.

 

[Restrain]

Volume in the DFW area is steady, but not the blizzard of orders during last year's refi boom. Plenty of work, behind as usual, a week out on inspections. Ah, well, better than waiting for the phone/fax to ring. Time to go on vacation. And like others, this year taking the new motorhome on the road. No more air trips.

 

[Joker]

Reading this thread has given me a good news bad news thing. The good news is, everybody is slow, it's not just me or something I have done. The bad news is, business is slow. I have enough to keep me busy, but last month I was working 18 hour days and took on a new trainee, and this month I barely have enough for myself, nothing for the other appraiser in the office, let alone the trainee. I got a junk fax yesterday, which made me happy to know the fax machine still worked. As an economist, I do believe the economy is slowing down. All the signs are there, despite what the news media say.

 

[The Bob]

Last year was a record for me. I really don't want to work that hard again. My business is way off from that record pace, but is still OK. One of my biggest clients has laid off 2 loan officers and other support people. I think a pullback or lull is to be expected. Just about eveybody that is going to refi has. One trend I'm seeing is more 2055's and I just did my first 2075 "property inspection". As an aside, I bought a new truck in April. When I went to pick it up I told the finance manager that I was thinking of getting an equity line to pay for the truck. She said "no problem, we have that already set up with SunTrust Bank. All you do is sign a paper". A few days later I got a letter from the bank with a form to fill out explaining I would be charged some incidential fees to record the 2nd D/T. There was no mention of an appraisal at all. Nothing. I have no idea if they did a drive by or an avm or what. But none of the wording said anything about my loan being subject to the value of my house. Makes you wonder.

 

[Dee Dee]

JimBob,
In my area home equity lines of credit seem to be the popular choice for those who have quite a bit of equity in their homes and current mortgage rates hovering around 7%. It's the cheapest way to go for some quick cash in the pocket, as needed. Low closing costs, low appraisal fee (a drive-by is most common), and usually with rates that match prime.
Right now it appears to be the loan of choice for those who haven't tapped out all of their equity.
Perhaps that explains why so many appraisers are seeing more drive-bys.

 

[Farm Gal]

Dee Dee I think you have part of the story, but appreciation in our area runs nothing like your market: it takes years of payments to build a reasonable (small) equity position to tap. We see no more than 3-4% appreciation in most local areas (there are a few exceptions)

Most of our drive bys are purchase mortgage of median market value for folks with A credit...

often these orders start as full but if we don't set, see, and write the appriasal in 24 hours they are downgraded to drivebys... and our appointments are still out one to two weeks...

I am hoping that the biz stays steady at this more manageable rate.

 

[josephdifranco]

Regarding the Chicago slow down and affect on other areas. I had a realtor mention Chicago is a bit soft, however, some of my suburban markets are hot as hell. General economy might be affecting the higher end market a bit more than the middle, hard to say. If today is an indication I am about to slow down a bit as

 

[Dee Dee]

Dee Dee I think you have part of the story, but appreciation in our area runs nothing like your market: it takes years of payments to build a reasonable (small) equity position to tap. We see no more than 3-4% appreciation in most local areas (there are a few exceptions)

Most of our drive bys are purchase mortgage of median market value for folks with A credit...

Lee Ann,
We're getting a bit of that niche too.
As far as the home equity loan crowd, it appears that they're going this route and have equity accumulted because they didn't fall into the annual refi bandwagon that so many have made a habit of doing. Almost without fail these homeowners tend to be well over 40 years old and have been at the same address for more than 4 years.
The bulk of the Denver area market has seen an annual average of 12-15% appreciation per year, but I suspect that will not last much longer. I'll be able to get a better feel of what direction we're heading by the end of the summer (buying season). So far this year it's making me very nervous. :?