Canadian real estate technology company Voxtur Analytics Corp. closed on the acquisition of appraisal management software firm Appraisal Now for approximately $30.5 million, the company said this week.
“This strategic acquisition bolsters recurring revenues and accelerates the development of Voxtur’s data ingestion engine, allowing clients to achieve optimal efficiency and cost savings,” Voxtur said in a statement.
Appraisal Now, better known as “Anow,” makes an automated appraisal workflow management platform for the global appraisal market. The company claims Anow has completed 6 million appraisals, with more than $2 billion in fees collected. It’s used in 60-plus countries. Anow, founded in 2011 and led by Marty Haldane, claims appraisers can manage orders, clients and fees with its dedicated consumer relationship management software.
“The Anow appraiser-first model benefits all value-chain participants from lenders to consumers and reinforces our vision of the Uberization of the entire real estate transaction,” said Voxtur’s Chairman and CEO Gary Yeoman.
The acquisition fits with Voxtur’s larger corporate makeup. The firm offers targeted data analytics to simplify tax solutions, property valuation and settlement services for investors, government agencies, servicers and lenders.
The transaction occurred around the same time that investment firm Gridiron Capital acquired Class Valuation, a technology-enabled appraisal management company. Class Valuation, which has ties to executives at United Wholesale Mortgage, provides regulatory-compliant appraisals to the country’s top mortgage lenders and originators.
Appraisers have been under considerable pressure since the COVID-19 pandemic began over a year ago. Many were unable to conduct appraisals in-person and have relied more heavily on automated valuation models from a slew of providers, such as Black Knight, Corelogic, Weiss Analytics and HouseCanary. Though that issue has lessened in recent months, a shortage of appraisers and an incredibly hot real estate market has led to occasional criticism from real estate agents and loan originators about low valuations creating an “appraisal gap.”
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