Regulators in the US have announced plans to bring in appraisals for homes which are deemed high risk in a bid to help potential buyers make informed decisions when entering in to a decision to buy the property.
The proposal would see creditors required to hire an appraiser, who would be licensed to inspect the inside of the property, and the report generated would then be made available to anyone who was interested in purchasing the property. Six federal supervisors have proposed this move.
There would also be a need for creditors to obtain a second appraisal if the property had been purchased by the person selling it for a lower price than it was currently being offered for within the six months prior to the current sale. This would be in a bid to stop fraudulent property flipping, as regulators look to tighten up a number of areas of property law that allow people to move property quickly for large profits while exploiting loopholes.
The six federal supervisors that issued the proposal were the Federal Reserve, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the National Credit Union Administration..
As more people move back into the property market due to its recovery following the global housing market crash, regulators are concerned about protecting both mortgages and buyers and are examining moves to avoid a future crash. House prices across the US have risen steadily over the past months and with more people seeking to buy as the market stabilizes, this move is being welcomed across the industry.
