New Research Shows That Home Appraisals Were Higher Than Sale Prices 57% Of The Time
Corporate Settlement Solutions (CSS), a full-suite provider of commercial and residential real estate settlement solutions, released results from its half-year Appraisal Price-Gap Analysis which provides the percent of homes that appraised over or under the sale price or appraised at the sale price (within $2,500.00). In the second half of 2024 (July-December), the analysis shows that home appraisals were higher than sale prices 57% of the time, up from 53% in the second half of 2023; 8% of homes were under-appraised, a year-over-year decrease from 12%; and 36% were appraised at the sale price, as compared to 34% in the second half of 2023.
The CSS Appraisal Gap Analysis focuses on 19 states and the District of Columbia that are within the CSS footprint with additional highlights for the 10 states with the highest volume.
In the second half of 2024, the average over-appraised value was 4% above sales price, unchanged from the second half of 2023; the average under-appraised value was -6%, a year-over-year decrease from -8%.
State-Level Analysis
Among the 10 states with the highest appraisal volume, Pennsylvania had the highest percentage of appraisals that were more than the sale price at 76% (with an average over-appraised value of 4%); and New Jersey had the lowest percentage of homes that were over-appraised at 38% (with an average over-appraised value of 3%).
In the under-appraised category, Indiana had the highest percentage of appraisals that came in below the sale price at 17% (with an average under-appraised value of -6%); and Kentucky had the lowest percentage of appraisals that were less than the sale price at 5% (with an average under-appraised value of -4%). Virginia had 0% of appraisals that came in below the sale price.
“Over the past four years, home prices have increased significantly in many markets, but recently the rate of growth has begun to slow. These are just two of the challenges appraisers face in the current mortgage market,” said Ashley Jelinek, CEO of Corporate Settlement Solutions. “We launched our Appraisal Price-Gap Analysis last year to help the market, as a whole, understand the delta between appraisals and sale prices. Accurate, market-centric valuations are key to a healthy mortgage market, so it will be interesting to see how well appraised values align with market-driven sales prices throughout 2025 as the housing market continues to find its new normal,” she said.
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