How Much Does a Home Appraisal Cost in Arizona?
Figuring out what a home is worth is an essential part of both the homebuying and homeselling process.
For sellers, correct pricing can improve the chances of a quick, lucrative sale. For buyers, having third-party pricing data can inform them and their lenders on whether a home is truly worth the price tag being marketed.
Professional home appraisals are considered the gold standard of property valuation, so it can be wise — and in many cases required — to have one completed prior to a real estate transaction.
How much a home appraisal costs in Arizona varies significantly based on a property’s size and complexity, as well as the current market conditions locally and nationally.
With the help of a veteran Arizona real estate appraiser and a top Arizona real estate agent, we’ll go over what a home appraisal costs in Arizona, what factors impact that cost, and what to expect when going through the appraisal process.
What is a home appraisal?
A home appraisal is a property value calculation performed by a licensed and independent home appraiser.
It traditionally consists of a walkthrough inspection of your property and a researched comparison of similar homes in your area.
How much does a home appraisal cost in Arizona?
The cost of a home appraisal in Arizona ranges between $450 and $625, according to iBuyer.com. This estimate is for a standard, single-family home. Unique properties may necessitate specialized expertise, which can be more expensive.
This amount exceeds the national average home appraisal fee of $500.
HomeAdvisor/ Angi: $313-$423
Fixr.com: $375-$450
Houzeo: $300-$500
LendingTree: $300-$500
Now let’s look at the variables that can increase or decrease the cost of a home appraisal in Arizona.
What factors influence the cost of a home appraisal in Arizona?
Much like any service, the cost of a home appraisal is based on the amount of time it takes to complete the job, as well as basic supply and demand economics.
The time and effort it takes to complete an appraisal are mostly based on the size and complexity of the subject property.
“Sometimes your much larger properties are going to take longer to get the physical attributes through the measurements and get all the information on it,” says Kelly Logan, co-owner of Logan Real Estate Appraisal Service in Pheonix. “But at the same time, you could have a property that has small improvements on there that could cost more just because of the difficulty in trying to locate comparable properties.”
Some examples of complex properties include:
An acre lot in the middle of downtown Phoenix
A historic home in an area where there are no other historic homes
A brand new home built in an infill lot located in an older neighborhood
On the economic side of the equation, the busier appraisers are the more they can increase their fees, and vice versa. During the pandemic housing boom, for instance, appraisal fees were extraordinarily high, Logan says.
“We’re seeing that there is still a robust amount of buying,” Logan says.
This is partly driven by Arizona continuing to be one of the fastest-growing states in the country.
“We know that people keep moving here mostly due to the climate and beautiful physical attributes of Arizona,” Logan says. “What’s also driving that are growing economic factors that have gone in with the microchip plants and construction for new commercial facilities — which creates more jobs.”
