Story by HousingWire
Desktop appraisals became a permanent option for certain loans earlier this year. HousingWire recently spoke with Kenon Chen, Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Clear Capital, about desktop appraisal adoption and appraisal modernization.
HousingWire: Desktop appraisals became a permanent option for certain loans in March 2022. How willing are appraisers to adopt desktop and hybrid appraisals?
Kenon Chen: We have discovered an incredible amount of willingness from appraisers to adopt desktop appraisals, even before the market slowdown. The COVID-driven appraisal flexibilities accelerated the introduction of completing appraisals from home, so already some mindsets were starting to change. We have been very active in hybrid appraisal pilots and we have seen the benefit of providing accurate, digital data about the property to the appraiser, which has been crucial to adoption. I applaud the GSEs for requiring a minimum standard of available data and digital floor plans to ensure the desktop appraisal process is more robust. With over 235,000 hybrid and desktop appraisals under our belt and over 5,200 appraisers ready and willing to accept desktop appraisal assignments, we feel confident that the industry is ready for the change.
