For what it's worth

Just like the stock market, house values can be an up-and-down affair.

But the market value of homes in Altoona is not as volatile as in bigger cities such as Pittsburgh, Baltimore and New York City, according to area home appraisers and real estate agents.

“Most people in this area know that there’s basically a gradual, 5 percent increase per year,” said Richard Johnston, owner/broker at Howard Hanna Johnston Realty, Altoona. “In the bigger markets, home values are going up 15 (percent) to 20 percent every year. But like the stock market, it has to correct itself eventually.”

Bigger populations and more jobs account for the dramatic increases in bigger cities, Johnston said.

Home appraisals are a key component of the home buying and selling process, Johnston said. A residential appraisal is a security tool used by lenders to establish the market value of a home’s property. When a home is sold, the buyer’s mortgage lender will order an appraisal of the property to make sure the home is worth the amount being mortgaged (the principal amount owed to the bank). Lenders need accurate appraisals to ensure that they could reasonably recoup their loss through resale of the property if the buyer defaults on the loan.

The most common type is the Uniform Residential Appraisal Report, which consists of interior and exterior photos, and sometimes, depending on the house’s age, a complete cost breakdown of the property.

‘‘The buying public doesn’t always understand the (appraisal) routine,’’ said Lisa Fry, owner/broker at Lisa Fry & Associates GMAC Real Estate, Altoona. ‘‘Unless you’re a cash buyer, there’s going to be a bank involved.’’

Fry said residential appraisers must be state-certified, and must have completed coursework and internship hours to familiarize themselves with their respective real estate markets. The lender might use an appraiser on its staff, or contact an independent appraiser to do the appraisal.

If buyers or sellers are allowed to choose the appraiser, and it isn’t someone the lender is familiar with, the results might be subject to review, she said.

Fry isn’t certified to do an official home appraisal, but she can do what is called a comparative market analysis to help home sellers determine a realistic asking price.

Experienced agents can come very close to an appraisal price with their CMAs, but an appraiser’s report is much more detailed, and is the only valuation report a bank will consider when deciding whether or not to lend the money.

But with a nationwide real estate crisis in full bloom thanks to subprime mortgage woes, falling prices and rising loan rates, homeowners are increasingly turning to Internet sites in an effort to glean information that might shed light on when to refinance or whether to sell — Eppraisal.com, Realestateabc and Zillow.com, to name just a few.

In June, for instance, more than 39 million people visited the most popular real estate Web sites, a 22.4 percent increase in visitors over the same period in the previous year, according to Nielsen/NetRatings Inc.

But are they reliable — or just pipelines of conflicting information?

‘‘These Web sites are a generality,’’ said Patrick Altierio, a state-certified appraiser at Clyde E Yon and Associates Inc., Altoona. ‘‘In this area, you can find many different kinds of homes all on the same block — that’s what makes our area unique and somewhat special to appraise. Web sites merely go into a neighborhood and pick out the last 10 sales, and use that as a basis for valuation.’’

Johnston, for the most part, agrees.

‘‘I’m not gonna say they’re bogus, because they do give you a general value for your home,” he said. ‘‘But to get the true value of your house, you have to have someone come into it and spend some time.’’

Residential appraisals, which range in price from $250 to $400, compare home size, general condition, location and amenities against similar properties in the area to arrive at a market value for the subject property, Johnston said.

‘‘It’s an opinion of value, but the bottom line is: a good appraisal should be within 5 percent of what the home eventually sells for,’’ he said. He called Blair County area ‘‘a depressed but steady market.’’

In 2005, the median price for homes sold in Blair County was $80,222, compared with $83,000 in 2006 and $82,150 in 2007, Johnston said, adding that he ‘‘can’t see any kind of noticeable market value increases in 2008.’’

He also noted that real estate values are generally higher in Hollidaysburg than in Altoona.

‘‘In Altoona, you have a lot of inner city properties that sell for $25,000 to $35,000. That really brings down the overall average price of homes.’’ he said.

Mirror Staff Writer Jimmy Mincin is at 946-7460.