At the recent RICS Summit of the Americas 2016 in Washington, D.C., a panel discussed global valuation standards and convergence. Currently, a project is underway to “bridge” the IVS, accepted in many countries, with the Uniform Standard of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). Creating this bridge would make it much easier for appraisers from the U.S. to perform appraisals in other nations, and vice versa.

Challenges: Panelists noted a number of challenges in achieving this goal, such as dealing with appraisal practices that can vary from one country to another (and sometimes even within countries). For example, U.S. appraisal reports are very detailed and long, while in the U.K., Australia, and Hong Kong, they are only around seven to eight pages. Other challenges include how to enforce the standards globally and how to manage conflicts and risks in the process.

Panelists included moderator James Park (RICS Appraisal Subcommittee), Steve Sherman (International Valuation Standards Council), David Bunton (The Appraisal Foundation), Steve Williams (Real Capital Analytics), and Mark Vollmer (New York Life).

Extra: The RICS event was a mixture of business valuation and real estate sessions. A panel of real estate experts estimated the value of the White House to be $250 million—not counting closing fees.