Over 2,000 real estate appraisers and policymakers attended the 2003 Washington Appraisal Summit recently. The Appraisal Institute, which sponsored the convention, calls it "the first appraisal event of its kind." One major highlight of this two-day gathering was an announcement by the Ve

Economist Karen Pence has recently published the results of her study for the Federal Reserve System on "defaulter-friendly" state foreclosure laws. The study concluded that such laws add on to the borrowers' costs at the time of origination. During the study, which used nearby census

There are folks who figured people would be living on the moon before the average price of an apartment in a U.S. municipality reached a million dollars, but it looks like the latter is about to become true. A survey conducted by Prudential Douglas Elliman concluded that the average sales price o

Paul Jackson has opened Lunar Realty in Rismedia, Australia, for the purpose of selling land on the moon. Jackson purchased the Australian rights to sell the lunar land from Dennis Hope of Nevada. In 1980 Hope registered a claim for the moon, as well as all planets in the solar system with the U

ELLIOTT & Company Appraisers is pleased to announce that it not only offers conventional appraisals, but also it now offers a complete line of risk management services, including that of consulting. It has become apparent that many of our clients have needs beyond that of an appraisal, and we w

A late surge in demand this year has inspired the National Association of Home Builders to boost its original projection of under a million homes to be built in the United States this year to over a million. In October, the association, consisting of 211,000 members, who build over 80% of the home

For the second consecutive year, ELLIOTT & Company Appraisers has established a new record for business. The number of appraisal orders the company received in 2003 was a 37% increase from that of the previous record year if 2002. The company's dollar revenue increased by 23% over what is was i

ELLIOTT & Company Appraisers now has a network of over 2,750 licensed and certified real estate appraisers throughout the United States. Through this network, the company is able to deliver prompt service in each of the 50 states of the U.S.A. Despite the large number of active members, the comp

The month of March is proving that the refi boom and the new-housing surge are still with us. In its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 12, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced a recent surge in activity as interest rates, once again, dropped. "We have b

The Federal Housing Finance Board recently released the results of its year-end survey of 2003. According to the board's report, the average U.S. home price as of December 31 was $245,700, a 3.7% increase over the national average posted the previous year. The region with the most expensive

For the first time in history, more than half of the minority households in the United States own their own homes. Minority homeownership passed the critical 50% mark in the fourth quarter of 2003 when it reached 50.6%. "This administration is committed to helping all Americans address this (

Effective immediately, participating ELLIOTT & Company Appraisers offices will begin to accept American Express cards in addition to those offered by Visa and Master Card. Credit card payments for orders are accepted via fax upon acceptance of the order or upon inspection of the property. The co

ELLIOTT & Company Appraisers, which for several years has been performing real estate appraisals in all 50 states, now offers appraisals worldwide. "ELLIOTT & Company Appraisers is expanding internationally in order to follow the lead of our clients and worldwide mortgage markets which are

As is in many, if not most, areas of commerce, the United States is the hands down world leader in business systems and practices. This is, without question, the case in real estate appraisals. We have been the world leader in mortgage lending for many decades. This has paved the way for us to devel

For the past three years, the real estate market values in Shanghai has been growing by over 20% annually. Last year real estate values in this large Chinese city increased 28%. The municipal government has recently issued rules to hold back mortgage loans and prevent short-term investors from buyin

In its ongoing effort to keep its real estate appraisers well informed in all facets of their profession, ELLIOTT & Company Appraisers will hold a Factory Built Homes Appraisal Conference on August 6 at its headquarters in Greensboro, NC. The program is open to all appraisers affiliated with ELLIOT

Are we in for a decline in housing values? At least one prominent economist is predicting a decline in U.S. housing values in the near future. Cary Leahy, senior economist with Deutsche Bank, told an audience of investors at a meeting in New York sponsored by the Association of German Mortgage Ba

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently reported that median home prices in the United States rose a whopping 9.1% in the second quarter of 2004 compared to that of the second quarter last year. According to the NAR, the median value for a home is now $183,800. Leading the way

The Real Property Appraiser Qualifications Board, an independent group that operates under the Appraisal Foundation, has adopted the Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria, which will become effective on January 1, 2008. Once they take place, these new criteria will introduce the requirement

Representatives of ELLIOTT & Company Appraisers will be at Booth 1505 during the 91st Annual Convention & Expo of the Mortgage Bankers of America that is being held October 23-27 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Representing the company at this convention will be Charlie Elliott, president,

In response to requests from our clients for quicker and less expensive collateral-assessment tools, ELLIOTT & Company Appraisers now offers Automated Valuation Models, better known as AVMs. AVMs are computer-generated evaluations developed from comparable sales databases and public records. Th

A recent study by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University and Macroeconomic Advisers, LLC, concludes that housing wealth has a greater effect on a consumer's spending habits than his or her stock wealth. According to the study, which was commissioned by the National Associatio