New Hampshire real estate appraisers say a recently passed U.S. housing bill won’t do enough to address a looming shortage of appraisers across the state and nation – but they’ll take what they can get.

The massive, 300-page 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which passed into law earlier this month after President Donald Trump refused to sign or veto the bill, contained a handful of provisions designed to boost the number of appraisers across the county.

Among other things, the bill now permits entry-level appraisers to handle appraisals for popular Federal Housing Administration mortgage loans.

The bill also allows appraiser-trainees to be listed on a national registry, a move some hope will entice lenders to use younger appraisers more often.

Local reactions to those and other appraisal-related provisions in the housing bill ranged from cautious praise to doubts they’ll accomplish much in the long-run.

“I do think the overall bill is a step in the right direction,” said Chuck Schubert, chair of the state’s appraisal licensing board and owner of Schubert Appraisals LLC in Gilford. “The bill is trying to address the overall shortage [of appraisers]. We need more people to get interested in this profession.”

But Ronald LaVallee, owner of Stone Brook Appraisals LLC in Hooksett, said he doesn’t see the bill making a big impact on the local industry, particularly when it comes to attracting more people into the appraisal profession.

“They might see a slight bump in the number [of appraisers], but I don’t see a significant increase,” he said.

NH Has Only 306 Appraisers

There’s little disagreement that the industry has experienced a huge plunge over the past decade or so in the number of residential and commercial appraisers, perhaps by as much as 25 percent.

Today, there are about 67,000 certified active licensed or certified real estate appraisers in the U.S., many of whom hold credentials to do business in more than one state, according to federal data.

In New Hampshire, there are about 652 active appraiser credentials, of which 306 are listed with in-state mailing addresses, according to federal data.

Those without state mailing addresses are presumed to be out-of-state appraisers, mostly from Massachusetts, with credentials to do business in the Granite State.

With sales of homes currently at historic low levels due to recent higher interest rates, many industry officials say they can now barely handle the amount of real estate appraisal work coming their way from lenders.

The big concern is that home sales will sooner or later return to their historic higher levels – thus putting even more pressure on an already strained industry.

Another major concern: Baby Boomer appraisers are now retiring at a fast clip without a corresponding number of young people entering the appraisal business.

“We’re aging out as a profession and we’re not seeing a lot of new blood,” said Schubert. “It’s a problem. We’re declining in terms of the number of appraisers.”

And current and growing shortages will only lead to longer wait times for lenders and borrowers to get appraisals done, officials warn.

Fewer Appraisers, Higher Fees

In classic supply-and-demand fashion, growing appraiser shortages will also inevitably lead to higher appraisal fees, which currently run from about $500 to $1,500 for residential appraisals to $3,000 and up for commercial appraisals, officials warn.

As for the recently passed federal housing bill, most industry leaders interviewed for this story say the FHA-related provision has the most potential to attract additional young people into the appraisal business.

Ultimately, the FHA move is a fix to a problem created by Congress itself nearly two decades ago.

At the height of the subprime-mortgage crisis in 2008, Congress passed legislation that banned so-called  “licensed residential appraisers,” or entry-level appraisers, from handling FHA loan deals.

The goal of the ban: to reduce the number of poor-quality appraisals that many felt at the time had contributed to the subprime-loan crisis in general.

But the FHA prohibition was a disaster from an industry standpoint, leading to a huge exodus of younger appraisers from the appraisal business.

According to federal data, the number of licensed residential appraisers – which is one of four licensed categories within the profession – plunged from about 30,000 in 2008 to less than 10,000 today.

“It significantly harmed a lot of appraisers,” Steve Sousa, executive vice president of the Massachusetts Board of Real Estate Appraisers. “In the end, it hurt the overall industry.”

But the recent Congressional move to rescind that ban should help appraisers, lenders and borrowers alike, said Sousa, a respected figure within the New England appraisal industry.

Sousa estimated that the FHA rule change could lead to hundreds of additional appraisers in Massachusetts alone.

No similar estimates were available for New Hampshire, but many think the FHA change can only help.

Will Trainee Lists Help?

Still, LaVallee, owner of Stone Brook Appraisal, isn’t so sure.

He noted that FHA-related appraisals are unpopular today with both seasoned and young appraisers, due to the larger amount of required paperwork and greater liability concerns associated with federal-tied appraisal work.

“Most entry-level appraisers are flat-out afraid to do an FHA appraisal,” he said.

As for allowing appraiser-trainees to be listed on a national registry of appraisers, some appraisers say it could help a lot.

Currently, many lenders won’t accept appraisals from those not on the national registry of appraisers, even if they’re heavily supervised by veteran industry professionals.

The hope is that putting trainees on a national registry list will encourage lenders to more readily accept their work, as long as they can prove they were supervised by experienced appraisers.

But, again, some critics say lenders will remain hesitant to accept appraisals performed by trainees, whether or not they’re on a registry and whether or not they’re supervised by others.

A Provision Winning Praise

Another appraisal-related provision in the massive housing bill is winning praise – assuming it eventually becomes reality.

Under the housing bill, major federal housing-market players, such as the FHA, Veterans Affairs and Federal Housing Finance Agency, are required to develop new procedures for borrowers to appeal appraisals of properties they hope to buy or refinance.

If borrowers believe an appraisal is off, yet-to-be-drafted procedures should allow them to more easily request a “reconsideration of value,” according to the new housing law.

Brian White, owner of White Appraisal in Dover and the past president of the New Hampshire-Vermont chapter of the Appraisal Institute trade group, said the overall U.S. housing bill is a net plus for the industry, even if it doesn’t accomplish as much as some hope.

“It will help slightly, I’m sure,” he said. “Overall, there’s definitely an aging problem facing the industry. There’s not too many people are getting into the business today. There’s a shortage we need to address.”