Homeowners are less likely to get a rude awakening when going through the mortgage process, according to the latest Quicken Loans Home Price Perception Index. Owners’ perception of home values are now the closest to being in line with appraisers’ than in more than three years.
In April, appraised values were just 0.33 percent lower than what homeowners expected. Further, only five of the 27 metro areas analyzed in the index had appraisals lower than what owners estimated.
Homeowners in San Jose, Calif., may be the most pleasantly surprised, with the average appraisal of 2.75 percent higher than expected. Owners in Chicago, on the other hand, may suffer the most disappointment, with average appraisals 1.68 percent lower than estimated.
“The appraisal is one of the most important, although sometimes least predictable, parts of the mortgage process,” says Bill Banfield, Quicken Loans executive vice president of capital markets. “The Home Price Perception Index is a way to illustrate the differences of opinion, and these differences affect everything from the type of mortgage a borrower can get to the expectations a seller has about the proceeds available upon the sale of their home.”
Source: Quicken Loans