Inspection Based Waivers In May – Now $1.62BN

For May 2026, GSE issuance totaled $70.0BN, down 10.6% from April, and up 23.4% from May 2025. For property valuations, $53.4BN (76.3%) closed using appraisals, down 4.9%, and $15.0BN (21.4%) closed utilizing appraisal waivers, down 26.0% from the prior month.

Lenders delivered $1.62BN (2.32%) with inspection based appraisal waivers in May, down 12.7% from April, and up 21.0% from a year ago. By loan count inspection based appraisal waivers were 2.66% of issuance, down 2.0% over last month.

Overall, inspection based waivers in May were 9.8% 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 May was 23.7% by balance and 25.4% by loan count.

Agency share of appraisal waivers in May

Fannie Mae Valuation Acceptance + Property Data market share of inspection based waivers in May was 58.8% on volume of $952MM, down 17.3% from April. There are 524 lenders who have delivered loans through Fannie Mae Valuation Acceptance + Property Data, including 279 independent mortgage companies and 148 banks and 100 credit unions. A total of 194 lenders issued loans using inspection based appraisal waivers in May with Valuation Acceptance + Property Data, down 5.4% from April, and up 136.9% from the prior year.

Freddie Mac ACE+ PDR (Automated Collateral Evaluation plus Property Data Report) market share for inspection based waivers in May was 41.2% on volume of $668MM, down 5.0% from April. Freddie Mac participation is at 525 lenders, including 209 banks, 46 credit unions, and 272 non-banks. A total of 161 individual lenders issued loans using inspection based waivers with ACE+ PDR, unchanged from April, and up 37.6% from the prior year.

Bank, Credit Union & Nonbank appraisal alternatives

For bank sellers, 74.1% have used appraisal waivers and 28.4% have used inspection based waivers to deliver loans to the GSEs in the past couple of years. In May 50.2% used appraisal waivers and 11.8% used inspection based waivers, up 15.8% and 49.5% respectively from a year ago.

For credit union sellers, 76.1% have used appraisal waivers and 28.8% have used inspection based waivers to deliver loans to the GSEs, again since 2023. In May 48.2% used appraisal waivers and 8.9% used inspection based waivers, up 2.7% and 16.6% respectively from a year ago.

For nonbank sellers, 80.9% have used appraisal waivers and 49.2% have used inspection based waivers to deliver loans to the GSEs. In May 77.4% used appraisal waivers and 36.1% used inspection based appraisal waivers, up 8.5% and 70.8% respectively from a year ago.

Production channel

Broker channel issuance was $11.2BN (16.1%) in May, down 12.6% on last month, with 121 lenders delivering loans. Correspondent channel issuance was $21.8BN (31.2%), down 4.3% from the prior month, from 170 lenders. Retail issuance was $37.0BN (52.8%), down 13.3% from April, from 1,168 lenders.

For inspection based appraisal waivers in May, broker volume was $432MM (26.7%) down 15.1% from 38 sellers. The correspondent channel was $334MM (20.6%) down 6.0% from the prior month in the overall volume, from 37 aggregators. Retail channel utilization of inspection-based waivers was $854M (52.7%) of issuance, down 13.8% from 206 lenders.

Loan Purpose

Purchase volume using inspection based appraisal waivers in May was $1.04BN (64.2%), up 3.8% from April, and up 25.2% from last year. Refinance (cash out) volume using inspection based appraisal waivers in May was $241M (14.9%) down 8.5% from April, and down 17.3% from last year. Refinance (limited or no cash out) volume using inspection based appraisal waivers in May was $339M (20.9%) down 42.5% from April, and up 56.2% from last year.

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