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ValuFinders enhances AVM and Appraisal Review offerings

Leader in real estate valuation and collateral risk management solutions announces the immediate availability of economical AVM and Appraisal Review products/services.

ValuFinders, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 to provide an array of real-estate collateral risk management services, including automated valuation models (AVM’s), quality control reviews, collateral assessment, web-based property tracking and technology services.

The company’s client list includes, Countrywide Home Loans, Wells Fargo Bank, Bank of America, Fannie Mae, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA).

ValuFinders’ automated valuation tools (ValuRANGE and ValuPOINT) designed to meet the needs of mortgage lenders, brokers, appraisers and investment bankers during every step of the lending process, from origination, underwriting and quality control, to servicing, portfolio review and default management.

Combining the skill of experienced collateral assessment managers with an extensive selection of industry-leading AVMs, ValuFinders’ collateral risk assessment products, QC SCORE AND QC VALUE are available to help lenders and investors isolate high-risk appraisals to identify over-valuation and protect against loss.

The company's website is www.valufinders.com

Declining home prices –which markets are sliding?
According to Global Insight report, the incidence of overvaluation in the nation's housing market continues to decline, the result of falling home prices.

Global Insight, an economic and financial analysis and forecasting company, today released the 2006 fourth quarter update of the U.S. Housing Valuation Analysis, which shows the incidence of overvaluation in the nation's housing market continues to decline, the result of falling home prices.

The overall number of single family housing units deemed to be overvalued eased down from 17 percent to 16 percent of the total number of single family housing units. In terms of single family asset value, the percent deemed to be over-valued fell to 28 percent from 31 (revised) percent in the prior quarter.

Single-family home prices moved up in the fourth quarter by 1.8 percent, the first quarterly acceleration - albeit small - since the second quarter of 2005. Compared to the same period last year, prices have moved ahead by 4.1 percent. Seventy-two metro market areas, accounting for 22 percent of all single family real estate assets, experienced price declines in the fourth quarter.

The declines were concentrated in California, Florida and the New York metro area. Between the third and fourth quarters, California had 21 metro areas out of 26 with negative price appreciation, while Florida had 10 out of 18. Price declines were broadly dispersed throughout the rest of the country - only 21 of the 50 states were entirely exempt from falling prices.

Home price appreciation continued to be strongest in those parts of the country that came late to the explosion in home prices - the interior and northern parts of the west, including northern Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Washington and Oregon.

Markets identified in the study as over-valued decreased to 57 metro areas in the fourth quarter from 60 metro areas (revised) in the third quarter. As it has for the past several quarters, the greatest incidence of overvaluation continues to exist in pockets along the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts. New England, however, no longer appears to be significantly overvalued, while Orange County, Calif.; Tucson, Ariz.; Reno and Carson City, Nev.; and Kingston, N.Y., also fell below the threshold denoting extreme overvaluation.

Meanwhile, parts of Texas continued to experience above-average price increases in the latest quarter, but also continued to have the highest concentration of under-valued markets in the nation.

Naples, Fla., remains the most over-valued market in the country, although its level of overvaluation declined during this period to 79.9 percent, down from 83.6 percent (revised) in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Dallas and College Station-Bryan, Texas, remained virtually tied for the most undervalued markets, 21.6 and 22.5 percent, respectively, although home prices rose slightly in both markets.

“Nearly all markets posted a decline in the level of overvaluation, which signals that the overall housing market is beginning to trend back to more normal price growth,” said Jeannine Cataldi, senior economist and manager of Global Insight’s Real Estate Service.

The U.S. Housing Valuation Analysis, a joint effort by Global Insight and National City Corp., examines the top 317 U.S. real estate markets, or 91 percent of the single family housing market, to determine what home prices should be, accounting for differences in population density, relative income levels, interest rates, and historically observed market premiums or discounts.

Markets with valuation premiums above 35 percent were deemed at risk for price corrections based on the typical degree of overvaluation that preceded the 63 known local market price declines observed since 1985.

The U.S. Housing Valuation Analysis combines a statistical model originally developed at National City Corp. with data largely developed at Global Insight.


REALTOR Locator Service added to appraiserConnect's CONCIERGE
New service, available immediately to all Appraisal CONCIERGE members helps connect Mortgage Brokers with Real Estate Agents nationwide.
appraiserConnect.com, the industry’s leading provider of Appraisal Management Outsourcing solutions/services, announced today that they have launched a REALTOR Locator service in the Appraisal CONCIERGE
According to the company, the REALTOR Locator allows broker members to instantly reach, and connect with, thousands of qualified real estate agents nationwide, as well as offering rebates, to borrowers, of up to $5,000.
In addition to the REALTOR Locator feature, mortgage originators/processors can take advantage of a complete set of automated features. When placing appraisal orders online through CONCIERGE, the system does the rest including: sourcing an appraiser from appraiserConnect’s National Network (or work with the broker or lender’s existing local appraisers), coordination and confirmation of the delivery date and fee, tracking orders from acceptance to delivery, automatic email notifications at each step during the process, and a five-year appraisal archive.
CONCIERGE’s affordable service programs are available for Individual Loan Officers up to Multi-Office Enterprise organizations, allowing brokers and lenders to quickly and easily outsource their entire appraisal management process, either on a local basis, or across the country, without paying the higher fees typically associated with appraisal management companies.
The Company’s website is www.appraiserconnect.com

Housing Concerns Get in Way of Recruiting
Three in 10 employees who turned down relocation did so because of housing and mortgage concerns, according to a 2006 survey by Atlas World Group.

And 46 percent of companies say recruiting employees is becoming more difficult as the housing market cools, according to a 2006 survey by Prudential Relocation."It's becoming more and more of an issue. They don't want to sell their homes at a loss," says Mardi Montague, director of talent acquisition at pet store Petco Animal Supplies. "It's (a) huge (cost) for us to supplement this for them, and savvy candidates are asking about (relocation benefits) on the front end. That hasn't been a question before."Ironically, even as it becomes more difficult for employees to move, many companies are cutting their compensation for corporate moves. The percentage of fir ms offering full reimbursement for a relocation declined significantly: 69 percent of employers offered full reimbursement of relocation expenses for transferees in 2005, compared with 58 percent in 2006, according to the 2006 Atlas survey.


Survey: Most Owners Don't Expect Home Values to Rise
Most U.S. home owners don’t expect any change in the value of their homes in the next year, according to a survey by Reuters and University of Michigan.

The survey, conducted in January and February, says 55 percent of American home owners expect their home value to stay the same, while 38 percent expect an increase in value. Just 7 percent expect value to decrease.Overall, home owners’ estimates of rising values are modest – a median price increase of just 0.1 percent. That would represent a slowing in expected price appreciation from double-digit increases in the recent past, likely discouraging the typical home owner from borrowing against their home equity, the survey concluded.

www.appraiserconnect.com