Category: Appraisal & Consulting

Real estate appraisers, particularly those involved with commercial real estate remain busy despite rising interest rates and an overall slowdown in market activity. During these busy times, appraisers must remember to stay consistent with the fundamentals of appraising.

Everybody agrees: Housing is expensive, or worse, not affordable, at almost every level of society. Cities have been working on the problem forever, housing advocacy groups likewise. I wrote about it a few monthly articles ago, and this is a needed update. Simply put, the problem is still that there is more demand than supply, some suggesting that hundreds of thousands of housing units must be built to make a dent.

Housing is on the top of the mind for everyone lately, or at least that’s how it seems. Between students, legislators, developers, and bankers, it’s all I’m hearing about, and that’s a good thing. The reality of the current economy and the outlook for many people has made the housing conversation dinner table discussion material for most families in this country.

Let’s have a look at the concept of competency. No, no, keep reading, even though many of you are saying, “he’s going to start talk about USPAP and all those Appraisal Standards and all that boring, obtuse, useless stuff.” It won’t be boring or useless.

In central Connecticut, the apartment market has been fickle during questionable economic times. Last month’s article by Josephine Aberle, MAI, indicated a slowdown in investment activity with a significantly reduced number of commercial sales transactions in 2022, following escalations in mortgage interest rates.

Stewardship of commercial property is basic - fix it, keep it clean, manage and market professionally. With the new normal, some tweaks are more expensive, more creative and more dramatic. Mobility, Wi-Fi and adaptive reuse! As a derivative of the local economy, commercial real estate currently benefits from the demand

Economy on the mend: Hopeful signs abound over the last few months of the fears of a long recession have been replaced by the hope of soft landing in the economy. The Federal Reserve Bank, which has increased interest rates dramatically over the year to curb inflation, has shown signs that there will be a pause

The secondary residential mortgage is a vast enterprise which encompasses many lenders, appraisers, borrowers, and investors. While Fannie Mae (Fannie) and Freddie Mac (Freddy) are not the only secondary market conduits, what they decide to do tend to inform the entire residential mortgage.

You are going to start seeing downward adjustments in appraisal reports for changing market conditions. Although the issues within the commercial real estate, CRE market are well known, it may be a jarring experience to see the adjustment applied to your property.

A recent March 2023 McKinsey and Company report indicates that real estate developers are pausing, or even canceling, development projects that were otherwise ready to go. In some cases, projects already under construction have been stopped.

There was a time that the city was quiet for July and August…then just August…now, it’s busy all summer long. The financial markets aren’t taking the summer off, that’s for sure. The stock market has been riding the proverbial teeter-totter with good days and bad, reactions and preemptions.

The Warren Group tells us that in Massachusetts, “the median sale price for both single-family homes and condominiums declined in April as the lack of inventory and elevated interest rates continued to weigh on market activity.” Single family sales declined 25% compared to 23 months ago. “Meanwhile, the median single-family sale price declined on a year-over-year basis for the first time since 2018