Real Estate Appraisers and Assessors training, employment & earnings

Appraisers and Assessors of Real Estate

Appraisers and assessors must meet licensing and/or certification requirements which vary by State, but generally include specific training requirements, a period of work as a trainee, and passing one or more examinations.
Although no specific degree is required to enter the occupation, most have at least a bachelor's degree.
Nearly 4 out of 10 are self-employed; salaried assessors worked primarily in local government, while salaried appraisers worked mainly for real estate firms.
Employment is expected to grow faster than average.

Job Outlook

Employment of appraisers and assessors of real estate is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations over the 2004–14 period. Employment of appraisers will grow with increases in the level of real estate activity and employment of assessors will grow with the increase in the amount of real property to be assessed. However, employment will be held down to a certain extent by productivity increases brought about by the increased use of computers and other technologies, which make for faster valuations and allow appraisers to take on more customers and each assessor to assess more properties.

In addition to growth openings, there should be numerous openings due to the need to replace the many appraisers and assessors who are expected to retire or decrease their working hours over the projection period.

Employment opportunities should be best in areas with active real estate markets, such as the East and West coasts and major cities and suburbs.

Although opportunities for established appraisers and assessors are expected to be good in these areas, those wishing to enter the occupation may have difficulty locating a training position because increasingly traditional sources of training positions prefer not to take on new trainees.

Appraisers may find the best opportunities as independent fee appraisers because the banks and other financial institutions that, in the past, employed a significant number of appraisers are increasingly contracting out to independent fee appraisers to make loan appraisals on a case-by-case basis, decreasing their need to have appraisers on staff. The increased use of automated valuation models to conduct appraisals for loan and mortgage purposes has also shifted work out of the financial sector.

The cyclical nature of the real estate market will also have a large effect on the future of appraisers, especially those who appraise residential properties. In times of recession, fewer people buy or sell real estate, causing a decrease in the demand for appraisers. However, during a downturn in the residential real estate market appraisers often are able to switch specialties and appraise other types of properties.

Because assessors are needed in every local or State jurisdiction to make assessments for property tax purposes regardless of the state of the local economy, assessors are less affected by fluctuations in the economy and real estate market than appraisers.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2006-07 Edition, Appraisers and Assessors of Real Estate, on the internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos300.htm (visited August 22, 2006).