Back in March, HousingWire gathered three industry experts to answers readers’ questions on the appraisal market. But as it turned out, one hour wasn’t nearly enough time to properly dig into the state of the highly debated appraisal market.

In the time that has passed since March, however, HousingWire has weighed in on the debate, publishing headlines such as:

Along with headlines on the latest news developments in the appraisal industry, such as:

But in order to weigh in on the questions left unanswered on the first webinar, HousingWire hosted a follow-up appraisal webinar.

This time around the webinar features experts Anthony Roveda, director of Valuation Solutions with MasterServ Financial, Jonathan Miller, real estate appraiser and consultant with Miller Samuel and Matt Simmons, commercial and residential appraiser with Maxwell, Hendry & Simmons.

During the webinar, Miller pointed out that the appraisal industry doesn’t have any leadership like it did in the past.

However, the discussion on the state of the industry is finally starting to grow.

Miller stated that he thinks it is an exciting time, and also a stressful time, to be an appraiser. But, he said, things are being shaken up, and the industry is finally debating the issues.

“Yes we are being attacked but that’s because we are being noticed,” he said.

The webinar covered key issues such as:

• Is there an appraiser shortage?
• Will technology take your jobs?
• How fair and reasonable are AMC fees?
• What is being done to encourage new faces to enter the appraisal market?

For an in-depth explanation of the issues, download the webinar for free here.

As a teaser, here’s a look at some of the issues discussed.

Miller commented on the issue of technology replacing appraisers saying, “One of the observations I have made on the industry since 2009 and the roll over into Dodd-Frank is that the appraisal process is being converted from a profession to a widget that fits into a larger system. There is a de-emphasis on actual expertise.”

However, Roveda added that while the possibility exists, the industry still needs an appraiser to do the analysis.

He said technology will not replace technology anytime soon. There are too many variables that go into the process.

Meanwhile, Simmons provided unique data on the number of appraiser in the market, commenting in on the debated “appraiser shortage.”

He stated that as it stands, there is a lack of clarity in the market on the numbers of appraisers in the market.

To help set the record straight on this, Simmons explained that most examples on appraiser supply focuses on dollar volume. However, it paints a better picture when you look at the number of originations.

Check out the chart below to see the number of originated mortgages versus appraiser credentials.

Click to enlarge

(Source: Simmons and ATTOM Data Solutions)

At the beginning of the webinar, Simmons further breaks down this chart to show what it means, along with more charts on the annual number of originations per appraiser.

For a free download of the webinar, check here. 

Brena Swanson is the Digital Reporter for HousingWire.com, providing expert coverage on Millennials, lending and housing. Brena joined the HousingWire news team in February 2013, also serving in the roles of Reporter and Content Specialist. Brena graduated from Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri. Follow Brena on twitter at @BrenaSwanson.