Did appraisers juice Florida real-estate market?
Almost every street has one: a vacant house that sold a couple of years ago for a jaw-dropping price. It could be another example of appraiser-inflation during the overheated housing market, which saw property values soar tens of thousands of dollars with each sale.
Appraisers so commonly pumped up house values to meet demands of developers, real-estate agents and lenders that complaints against them tripled in Florida in recent years — the largest complaint increase for any profession regulated by the state.
Frank Gregoire, former chairman of the Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board, said most appraisers are honest but some succumb to pressure from lenders who want higher appraisals.
“I’m not alone. Plenty of appraisers want a light shined on this,” said Gregoire, who owns an appraisal company in Pinellas County and is campaigning to become Pinellas property appraiser. “Consumers need to know about what they are buying and the devastating effects of this on their neighborhoods.”