From The Business Insider, June 25, 2009:   We’ve been talking this week about the NAR’s war against what it claims are low-ball home appraisals, caused by new regulations, and outside appraisers using distressed and foreclosure sales.

Real estate appraiser Jonathan Miller is weighing in on the question, and finds some merit to the idea that there are problems with current appraisal methods.

But first, he thinks it’s ridiculous to dismiss distressed and foreclosure sales as being somehow irrelevant, since the market is the market. If a home seller has to compete with other homes that are being foreclosed upon, then them’s the breaks, and that does legitimately drag down the value of a home. (Read more at: Yahoo Tech Ticker)

Update: The NAR’s Appalling Fight Against Honest Appraisals (The Business Insider)

___________

{Photography by Nancy Arora}