FHFA: Encouraging Trend Seen In Efforts To Reduce Valuation Gaps

By KIMBERLEY HAAS Officials at the Federal Housing Finance Agency say racial and ethnic valuation gaps in home appraisals are being reduced in a majority of states. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​According to a blog published Tuesday, “Although an appraisal valuation gap continues to exist between white and minority population tracts, data indicate a reduced gap following actions by stakeholders and federal, state, and local agencies, including the release of the PAVE Action Plan.” The federal Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity was created in June of 2021 to tackle the problem of racial and ethnic bias in home valuations. It is comprised of 13 federal agencies and offices and is co-led by officials at the U.S. Department of Housing and…

Veros Say Its Automated Valuation Model Isn’t Biased

Veros Real Estate Solutions, an enterprise risk management and collateral valuation services company, released new research that shows its Automated Valuation Model does not discriminate based on redlining. Experts have recently sounded the alarm on bias in home appraisals. Studies have shown that homes occupied by Black Americans are consistently undervalued compared to similar homes with white owners. Automated home appraisals are supposed to reduce the problem by removing human biases altogether, but concerns persist that the algorithm, fed human-produced data, can reproduce these problems. Further, they may be harder to spot because of the apparent objectivity of the technology. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau introduced a rule intended to safeguard homeowners against this issue earlier this month. “While machines…

Millennials, Racial Bias, Automated Valuations Hot Topics During Webinar

By KIMBERLEY HAAS Millennials keeping the market hot, racial bias affecting home appraisals, and automated valuation technology were discussed on Tuesday during a webinar designed to address what mortgage professionals should expect in 2022 and beyond. Jeremy Sicklick, CEO and Co-Founder of HouseCanary, Inc., predicted millennials would generate demand in the housing market over the next ten years. “Effectively, demand will continue to exceed supply,” Sicklick said. “As we look forward, really over the decade, I mean, we are very bullish on housing, and that comes back to just the sheer number of Millennials and household formation that’s going to occur. There’s just a massive amount of demand out there.” Founded in 2013, HouseCanary in San Francisco, Calif., is a…