Illinois Appraisal Bill Setback after Governor Makes Amendatory Veto
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn issued an amendatory veto on an appraisal reform bill Aug. 10, 2009, according to the Illinois Coalition of Appraisal Professionals. This bill, HB 1015, would institute many changes in the appraisal process in Illinois, including the mandatory licensing of appraisal professionals.

HB 1015 was passed in the Illinois House of Representatives, and passed unanimously in the Senate, before the bill came before Gov. Quinn. Along with the veto, Quinn issued a letter, stating he was in favor of the bill in principle, but wanted to alter some of the questionable language it contained. The bill’s amendments will be reviewed by both legislative branches of Illinois’ government, and the changes will be voted on when the House and Senate reconvene in the Fall.

To read more about this bill’s contents, and the full text of Gov. Quinn’s letter, read the synopsis posted on AppraisalScoop.com.

U.S. housing sales rise, prices fall in 2Q
The Wall Street Journal reports U.S. existing-home sales rose 3.8 percent in the second quarter of 2009. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of existing home sales stood at 4.76 million units at the end of the second quarter, up from 4.58 million units in the first quarter. However, this is still shy of the rate achieved in the second quarter of 2008, when the seasonally adjusted annual rate of existing home sales stood at 4.90 million units.

As housing sales continue to climb, housing sales prices continue to decline as first-time buyers and distressed homes flood the market. First-time buyers accounted for one-third of all purchases in the second quarter of 2009, and 129 of 152 U.S. metropolitan areas reported lower median existing single-family home sales prices from the year prior.

The national median has fallen 16 percent since the second quarter of 2008, according to information gathered by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The national median price for home sales now stands at $174,100. One reason for this large drop in median prices is due to the large number of distressed homes sold, which accounted for 36% the deals in the quarter. According to The Wall Street Journal, these homes typically sell for 15% to 20% less than traditional homes.

The rise in the rate of housing sales, coupled with the continued decline of median prices, is a sign for optimism in the U.S. housing market, according to NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “With low interest rates, lower home prices and a first-time buyer tax credit, we’ve been seeing healthy increases in home sales, which are a hopeful sign for the economy,” Yun said.
For more information about the status of the housing market, read the below links to the article in The Wall Street Journal and the press release at the official website of the NAR.

>> http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090812-712047.html

>> http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2009/08/2nd_helped

ClickFORMS 1004MC Service Now Available
The 1004MC service easily and seamlessly integrates your MLS data with your ClickFORMS Appraisal Software. Our hassle-free and fully automated service will fill in the 1004MC data grid and enhance your appraisal report by adding detailed analysis, charts and comment addendums. We already have hundreds of users utilizing the service and this is what they have to say about it so far:

"It'll cost me about 60 cents per report to have ClickFORMS do the typing for me and I get a cute page of graphs to go along with it. And I avoid those dreaded typos!"
Comment on the ClickFORMS User Forum

"I am very pleased with the functionality of the 1004MC Service. It is saving us a lot of time, and I especially like the graphs that are included with the service."  
Bill Sparks, The Sparks Co.

Learn more about the time-saving 1004MC Service at http://1004MCService.com

Tech Tip: Convert 1004MC Service charts page for AppraisalPort and Lighthouse
To export the charts generated by the 1004MC Service to AppraisalPort or Lighthouse, you must first convert the page to a PDF and insert it into an Exhibit page.

In the ClickFORMS File menu, choose Create Adobe PDF.

In the Create Adobe PDF File window, uncheck all but the Market Analysis Charts page. Click the Create PDF button.

Save the PDF file to a memorable location, such as your Desktop.

Once you've saved the file, go to the Insert menu and choose Insert from PDF File.

Browse to the location where you saved your PDF file, select it, and click Open.

In the Select PDF Pages to Insert window, click the Insert button. Your Market Analysis charts page will now be inserted as an Exhibit page in your report.

For more information about using the 1004MC Service with ClickFORMS, go to http://www.bradfordsoftware.com/1004mc/help.