Inspection Based Waivers In February – Now $1.5BN

For February 2026, GSE issuance totaled $63.5BN, down 12.7% from January, but up 52.6% from February 2025. For property valuations, $46.6BN (73.4%) closed using appraisals, down 15.5%, and $15.4BN (24.3%) closed utilizing appraisal waivers, up marginally from the prior month.

Lenders delivered $1.50BN (2.36%) with inspection based appraisal waivers in February, down 11.9% from January, and up 153.0% from a year ago. This is the 11th consecutive month with over $1 billion loan balance issued. By loan count inspection based appraisal waivers were 2.68% of issuance, down 13.0%.

Overall, inspection based waivers in February were 8.9% of the combined non-appraisal solutions by loan balance. By loan count, inspection-based waivers represented 11.2% of all waiver solutions.

Combined use of inspection based waivers and appraisal waivers in February was 26.6% by balance and 28.0% by loan count.

Agency share of appraisal waivers in February

Fannie Mae Valuation Acceptance + Property Data market share of inspection based waivers in February was 55.5% on volume of $832M, down 18.8% from January. There are 476 lenders who have delivered loans through Fannie Mae Valuation Acceptance + Property Data, including 254 independent mortgage companies and 134 banks and 91 credit unions. A total of 147 lenders issued loans using inspection based appraisal waivers in February with Valuation Acceptance + Property Data, down 13.2% from January, and up 137.1% from the prior year.

Freddie Mac ACE+ PDR (Automated Collateral Evaluation plus Property Data Report) market share for inspection based waivers in February was 44.5% on volume of $667MM, down 1.3% from January. Freddie Mac participation is at 513 lenders, including 202 banks, 45 credit unions, and 267 non-banks. A total of 145 individual lenders issued loans using inspection based waivers with ACE+ PDR, up 3.6% from January, and down marginally from the prior year.

Bank, Credit Union & Nonbank appraisal alternatives

For bank sellers, 72.0% have used appraisal waivers and 27.5% have used inspection based waivers to deliver loans to the GSEs in the past couple of years. In February 51.4% used appraisal waivers and 9.8% used inspection based waivers.

For credit union sellers, 75.5% have used appraisal waivers and 26.9% have used inspection based waivers to deliver loans to the GSEs, again since 2023. In February 52.0% used appraisal waivers and 8.2% used inspection based waivers.

For nonbank sellers, 80.3% have used appraisal waivers and 47.8% have used inspection based waivers to deliver loans to the GSEs. In February 76.9% used appraisal waivers and 29.2% used inspection based appraisal waivers.

Production channel

Broker channel issuance was $10.8BN (17.0%) in February, down 15.8% on last month, with 113 lenders delivering loans. Correspondent channel issuance was $20.0BN (31.5%), down 12.5% from the prior month, from 172 lenders. Retail issuance was $32.7BN (51.5%), down 11.8% from January, from 1,196 lenders.

For inspection based appraisal waivers in February, broker volume was $461MM (30.7%) down 16.8% from 35 sellers. The correspondent channel was $295MM (19.7%) down 1.8% from the prior month in the overall volume, from 36 aggregators. Retail channel utilization of inspection-based waivers was $743M (49.6%) of issuance, down 12.2% from 172 lenders.

Loan Purpose

Purchase volume using inspection based appraisal waivers in February was $860MM (57.4%), down 19.6% from January, and up 179.9% from last year. Refinance (cash out) volume using inspection based appraisal waivers in February was $197M (13.2%) down 14.1% from January, and up 12.5% from last year. Refinance (limited or no cash out) volume using inspection based appraisal waivers in February was $441M (29.5%) up 9.8% from January, and up 304.6% from last year.

More about inspection based waivers in February