The article analyzes the behavior of total appraisal volume, appraisal turn time, and appraiser utilization rates during the COVID-19 pandemic refinance boom.
Appraisal turn time increased during the 2020–2021 refinance cycle reaching a national average of 13.5 business days in peak periods on volume of 860,000 appraisals per month. At this time the national average was 21.8 appraisals completed per unique appraiser per month, with 39,600 active residential appraisers.
Peak Appraiser Utilization and Appraisal Turn Time
The table shows national data for the maximum monthly number for active appraisers, number of appraisals, appraisal turn time, and appraiser utilization.
During the first quarter of 2019, appraisers completed 11.8 appraisals per month with an average appraisal turn time of 7.4 days nationally.
As refinance demand increased, monthly appraisal volume increased but the number of active appraisers remained stable between 38,000 and 39,000 nationwide. This increased appraiser workload with utilization exceeding 20 appraisals per appraiser multiple times during the refinance cycle, including 21.8 appraisals per appraiser in March 2021.
Appraisal turn time increased from 7.4 to 13.5 days (80%) nationally and many lenders and appraisal management companies experienced significant issues scheduling and completing appraisals.
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Beginning in 2022, rising mortgage rates reduced refinance activity and appraisal demand declined. Monthly appraisal volume declined from 860,000 appraisals during the refinance cycle to 310,000 appraisals by December 2022. Appraisal turn time declined and returned to the 7.4 days.
Appraisal Turn Time Data Sources & Analysis
Appraisal Order Data
Data was supplied by an Appraisal Management Software (AMS) vendor with over 75% of orders completed using direct-to-appraiser fulfillment. This data includes order level detail by lender (bank, nonbank and credit union), geography (state, county and zip code), fees (initially quoted, and final paid fees), ordering milestones (order create date, inspection date, initial upload date, and final completion date) and appraisers (individual, firm and AMCs).
Freddie Mac Appraiser Capacity
Freddie Mac publishes a monthly Appraiser Capacity report that provides data on the volume of appraisals being completed and the number of unique appraiser licenses being used to completing them.
In March 2026 this showed 30,000 active appraiser licenses being used to submit to the Uniform Collateral Data Portal (UCDP) monthly. Additionally, the data is for all appraisal report types submitted to UCDP, not just Fannie Mae URAR 1004 and Freddie Mac URAR 70 ‘traditional appraisal’ forms.