Fair Valuation Issues and the Subprime Mortgage Debacle： Could Generally Accepted Accounting Principles Underlying the Historical Cost Method Have Prevented the Crisis？

There are three primary methodologies employed to determine real estate value in the appraisal industry： the cost approach, the sales approach and the income approach. The definition of market value is defined as： ＂a type of value, stated as an opinion that includes a set of assumptions concerning the market＂. Unfortunately, untrained and unlicensed appraisers provided opinions using primarily the sales approach or market data approach and virtually ignored the other two methodologies. The ensuing game of ＂Can You Top This＂ resulted in creating an out-of-control real estate market driven by unregulated fiduciaries as appraisers.