What St. Petersburg Home Buyers Need to Know!

It’s Economics 101 – when supply is low and demand is high, prices

go up & that’s today’s housing market across the country.

Home prices are appreciating at near-historic rates, creating

challenges you need to know about when it comes to appraisals.

With elevated buyer demand and very few properties on the market,

buyers are willing to pay over asking to secure for homes that check

off most of their needs & wants & especially with those they have

fallen in love with!

Unfortunately for buyers, banks don’t lend on emotional value.

They lend based upon the buyer’s ability to repay the loan as:

• A monthly mortgage payment, 2. How a resale can cover an outstanding balance(set by appraiser's given value)

Dustin Harris, Appraiser Coach, reminds us, “It’s important for everyone to understand that the appraiser’s job, in the end, is to remain that unbiased third party, to truly tell the client what that home is worth in the current market.”

In recent months, it’s become increasingly common for an appraisal to come in below the contract price on the house. ShawnTelford, Chief Appraiser for CoreLogic, explains this phenomenon:

“Recently, we observed buyers paying prices above listing price & higher than the market data available to appraisers, which they use to support a sales price. This difference is known as the ‘Appraisal Gap’ . . . .”

Note Telford’s use of the word ‘available.’ He is referring to how the speed of available data is not always keeping up with the turn of inventory.