Fannie Mae's Announcement 09-19 updates and clarifies the following appraisal and property-related topic: Clarification of Announcement 08-30, Appraisal-Related Policy Changes and Clarifications Updates to Announcement 08-30, Appraisal-Related Policy Changes and Clarifications.

Market Conditions Addendum to the Appraisal Report

 In Announcement 08-30, Fannie Mae introduced the Market Conditions Addendum to the Appraisal Report (Form 1004MC) to further enhance the transparency of the conclusions made by the appraiser related to market trends and conditions.

To add clarity, Fannie Mae has added several shaded areas to the form to recognize that all the requested data may not be available from the data sources used by the appraiser and therefore the information may not be provided. The lack of completion of these areas is acceptable as long as the appraiser provides an explanation as to why these sections of the form are not complete. However, if the data is available, the appraiser must include the data in the analysis.

Fannie Mae is also modifying the requirement for the “Median List-to-Sale Price Ratio” to now label it as “Median Sale Price as a Percentage of List Price.” Additional research indicated that this figure is typically provided by data sources as a percentage. The revised form is dated March 2009 and is available on eFannieMae.com. It was also provided to the major form software vendors. Lenders are encouraged to use the updated version immediately; however, it will be required for all one- to four-unit appraisals dated on or after July 1, 2009.

Use of Supervisory Appraisers

 Announcement 08-30 provides additional policy and guidance on the use of supervisory appraisers when they sign an appraisal report on the left-hand side of the form as the “appraiser.” Fannie Mae is providing the following clarification.

The Fannie Mae Selling Guide defines the appraiser as “the individual, who personally inspected the property being appraised, inspected the exterior of the comparables, performed the analysis, and prepared and signed the appraisal report as the appraiser.” The Announcement was intended to address instances where a trainee or unlicensed appraiser (who does not sign the report and where it is allowable by state law) completes the inspection, but the supervisory appraiser signs on the left-hand side of the appraisal as the “appraiser,” when they have never inspected the subject property.

In Announcement 8-30, Fannie Mae was conveying that this practice is unacceptable. Any appraiser signing on the left-hand side as the “Appraiser” must perform the level of inspection required by the assignment.

This guidance does not require the supervisory appraiser to inspect the subject property in all instances.

Time Adjustments on the Appraisal Report

Announcement 08-30 clarified that time adjustments may be either positive or negative. It also stated the adjustments must reflect the difference in market conditions between the date of sale of the comparable and the effective date of the appraisal for the subject property. The term “date of sale” was used in lieu of “contract date.” The correct terminology as stated in the Selling Guide is “contract date.”

Download FNMA_Announcement_0919

Key Highlights of Announcement 08-30:

•  New Market Condition Addendum form 1004MC

• Supervisory appraisers must now inspect the subject property

• Reporting prior sales and listing history

• Appraising a property on sites over 5 acres

• Effective age adjustments

• Cost approach for insurance purposes