BPC Report: Eliminate GSEs, Rethink Appraisal Processes
A Bipartisan Policy Center report released Feb. 25 primarily focused on reducing the government’s role in the nation’s housing finance system, but it also proposed changes to current appraisal policy. Appraisal-specific recommendations contained within the 136-page report, titled “Housing America’s Future: New Directions for National Policy,” focused on banning the use of distressed home sales as comparables by appraisers, a practice the BPC said was helping to depress local home values and impacting buyers’ ability to secure financing. The report suggested that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration should refuse to accept distressed sales as valid comps,...