The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) have released new appraisal data from loan applications on single-family mortgages submitted to HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The addition of appraisal data from FHA expands the scope of information in FHFA’s Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD), which comprises both annual appraisal-level data, as well as aggregate statistics released every quarter.
The data previously included only appraisals of properties where the loan would be acquired by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (GSEs). Through the updates, FHFA and HUD are furthering the work of the Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE), which aimed to evaluate the causes, extent, and consequences of appraisal bias and to establish a transformative set of recommendations to root out racial and ethnic bias in home valuations.
“Publishing appraisal data that goes beyond loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provides a more complete picture of home valuation trends and reinforces our commitment to accuracy, transparency, and fairness,” said FHFA Director Sandra L. Thompson. “Offering the public access to appraisal data for FHA-insured loans will bolster policymakers’ efforts to identify and address potential inaccuracy, bias, and discrimination in the broader mortgage market.”
The October 2024 release of the UAD includes the annual appraisal-level Public Use File (PUF) for Enterprise-acquired single-family mortgages and a separate appraisal-level file for FHA-insured single-family mortgages. Both contain selected data points from a 5% nationally representative random sample of appraisal records. This release also includes quarterly aggregate statistics on appraisals for FHA mortgage insurance applications and online dashboards providing more user-friendly access to the aggregate data through customized maps and charts.
“Far too many families face unfair racial or ethnic bias when they get their home appraised. To truly eliminate this form of discrimination, we need accurate, up-to-date data on the appraisal market,” said HUD Agency Head, the Honorable Adrianne Todman. “Today, we take a major step forward, working with our partners at FHFA to make public data that is both current and comprehensive on home appraisals.”
The appraisal-level PUF for FHA-insured mortgages contains details on approximately 266,000 single-family appraisals conducted from 2017 through 2022. The appraisal-level PUF for single-family mortgages acquired by the GSEs covers a sample of approximately 1.5 million appraisals conducted from 2013 through 2022.
In addition, the Aggregate Statistics data files now contain summary information on almost nine million single-family home appraisals conducted from the first quarter of 2017 through Q2 of 2024 and submitted to FHA for its mortgage insurance program. In September, FHFA previously released aggregate data for the GSEs from the first quarter of 2013 through the second quarter of 2024.
“Today’s release advances our commitment to ensuring all Americans receive fair and accurate appraisals,” said HUD Assistant Secretary for Housing Julia Gordon. “The availability of comprehensive, accurate appraisal data is a gamechanger for policymakers, researchers, advocates, and the general public.”
The post HUD and FHFA Increase Transparency in Home Appraisals first appeared on The MortgagePoint.
