Hypzert „800” join Recognised European Valuer Scheme
At the last General Assembly of The European Group of Valuers Associations (TEGoVA) held in the Romanian university city of Cluj-Napoca on 8th October, over 50 delegates representing valuation associations from across Europe welcomed an agreement between TEGoVA and Germany's certification body Hypzert under which some 800 valuers certified by Hypzert will become Recognised European Valuers.
HypZert is Germany's leading certification body for real estate valuers. It certifies the latter according to the internationally accredited criteria of the world-norm ISO/IEC 17024, thus ensuring high standards and transparency in the German real estate market. Candidates for Hypzert certification must demonstrate a high level of education, long term professional work experience, compliance with professional standards and financial know-how. Today many financial institutions, and almost every German state and mortgage bank, employ predominantly valuers who hold a HypZert certificate.
Following the above arrangement there will soon be some 1500 Recognised European Valuers practising in France, Germany, United Kingdom, Austria, Greece, Norway, Poland, Latvia, Romania and Russia, a sure sign of the value now being placed on the „REV” brand by clients and valuers alike.
New European Valuation Standards to be Launched in 2012
The other major development at the General Assembly was the approval, subject to consultation, of new European Valuation Standards to be launched in Krakow in May 2012.
Whilst there was much discussion at the assembly about the current crisis in Europe, it was acknowledged nevertheless that the latter is rapidly emerging as a political entity, a phenomenon having direct impact on real estate markets and valuation.
Valuation failure is seen by many to be at the centre of the financial crisis, and is also perceived as a component of the greening of the building stock. There is strong European political will to take up both these challenges, leaving TEGoVA with the stark choice of forcing the pace of the harmonisation of property valuation or standing by and watching the EU set valuation rules. TEGoVA has responded with a radical review of its Blue Book of European Valuation Standards (EVS).
EVS 2012 will deal with the impact of EU policy on real estate and require valuers to adapt their practice to the valuation-specific requirements of EU law.
EVS 2012 will cover the traditional standards forming the basis of valuation practice, whilst highlighting the origins in EU law of concepts as basic to the profession as „market value” and „mortgage lending value”, or under the EU Capital Requirements Directive, the concepts of an „independent valuer” and valuation reporting for the purposes of monitoring and reporting the values of property used as collateral. The new standards will take coverage and understanding of the EU's influence on property and valuation to another level.
The crisis has led to considerable toughening of regulatory control over financial markets and a massive shift of that control from the national to the EU level. One result is the new Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive covering, inter alia, real estate fund managers, and containing detailed valuation rules to ensure frequent, independent valuations by properly qualified professionals.
Another important sphere of EU influence is action against climate warming. As buildings constitute 40% of the entire European carbon footprint, it is not surprising that the EU has produced extremely coercive legislation on the energy performance of buildings. The resultant effect on property valuations will be detailed in EVS 2012 which will for example advise valuers on how best to assess whether any major renovation required by the property being valued is sufficient in scale to trigger the upgrading of its minimum energy performance required by the EU Directive.
TEGOVA and Appraisal Institute sign Co-operation Agreement
A highlight of the General Assembly was the signing of a bilateral co-operation agreement between TEGoVA and the USA's Appraisal Institute. The agreement, signed by Roger Messenger, TEGoVA Chairman and Sara Stephens, President Elect Appraisal Institute, seeks to develop a closer relationship between the two organisations in the areas of education, publications, research and standards.
The Appraisal Institute is the largest not for profit real estate appraisal organization in the United States with over 24,000 members. It is also the world's largest publisher of real estate valuation textbooks and a world leader in appraisal education.