Before the pandemic, it was common for real estate agents and homebuyers to sign a contract with a closing date in 30 days. It was a lot of work for the lender to get all the paperwork done in a month’s time, but it could be done.

As we all know, with the low interest rates we’ve experienced during the past 18 months or so, the housing market and refinances have exploded. Everyone involved in a closing is busier than they’ve ever been, including appraisers.

Unfortunately, contracts expecting a 30-day closing are still being written. It’s important to note that just because a closing date is in a contract, it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. If getting all the necessary documentation together in order to underwrite the mortgage application takes longer than a month, the closing will need to be pushed back. This is a frustrating situation for everyone involved, but unfortunately, it’s reality in today’s market.

Part of the problem is appraisers are overloaded with more appraisal requests than they can handle (we’ve written about this before). Therefore, turn times are slower than everyone would like. We recently took a look at our average appraisal turn times for half a dozen of the states that are the slowest. Over the past four months, they were:

• Oregon: 15.1 days
• Washington 12.9 days
• Texas: 12.6 days
• Tennessee: 12.6
• Florida: 11.4 days
• Colorado: 9.6 days

Why are these states the slowest? They’re large and have homes dispersed in a wide geographic area. Additionally, Florida, Tennessee and Texas are seeing significant inflows of home buyers due to the lack of a state income tax. It all adds up to the age-old story; limited supply of appraisers and significant demand causes a backlog, resulting in longer turn times.

It may seem odd for us to publicize our slow turnaround times, when we typically toot our own horn about being faster than the industry average. But these are not ordinary times. What we’re experiencing is universal. Every AMC is struggling with the same issue. There is no magic bullet, there is no special sauce. There’s no pool of appraisers hidden away by an AMC that can move faster than any other.

For now, homebuyers, real estate agents and mortgage loan officers have to put aside the notion of a 30-day close. Once the market returns to normal, we’ll all be delighted when the industry can return to speedy appraisals and quick closings.

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