Values of refinanced homes increase

No surprise here. Many bought homes using creative financing in the early part of the 2000 decade. Although the housing market IS crashing now, many homes are still valued higher than they were back in 2000-2004. WIth "Hope Now" foreclosure prevention lines being set up, and low rates in Jan 2008, there was a surge in refinancing. (Note - initially the corrupt NAR tried to pass off increased mortgage activity as "a market rebound" but we all knew better). I am not sure how much appraisal fraud plays into this, this is simply a surge in refinancing as a desperate attempt to lower foreclosures. But as more and more people are underwater, the smart thing to do for your balance sheet is just walk away. A foreclosure is no bigger a slap on your credit report than walking away from a credit card.

Or, it could be that the people who are intent on staying in their home (and refinance) have added value to their properties by having quality renovations and additions done to their homes. There are some of us out there who shelled out over 100,000 to improve their homes, but when the appraisal came back they only saw a fraction of that appear in the value of their home.

There are people out there who do not intend on leaving their homes but did get into the market on the high side of the cost side of things. For me, I've invested too much into my property to just walk away.

Um, refinances aren't sales. There is no "price."

There's just a log-rolled number everyone agrees to pretend the house is worth, so they can complete a lending transaction.

Thats great to hear that you love your home, John. But the music says that those rennovations are worth a lot less now than they were 3 years ago. There isnt a rule out there that you cannot lose the equity you think you built up with home improvements. Tis a myth pushed by the 250 billion US home improvement industry. Most "equity" built up with home improvements and maintenance is really already gone. Homes consume 2% of their value per year, just to keep up with maintenance and keep bathrooms and kitchen current. That is just to keep the baseline price, and that is assuming your neighborhood is nice. A home is a high-cost asset to maintain. This derranged myth that shelter is an investment is being erased, thank goodness. Education, infastructure, science - those are things worth investing in. A society investing a massive portion of its GDP to stick and glue boxes to live in is not a society that will sruvive the 21st century. No wonder our economy is so messed up and heading into the toilet.

Well, it looks like Fannie Mae isn't buying excuses for the corrupt appraiser theory. It just announced that it won't finance any loans appraised by lenders own employees or brokers' referrals.

To Patrick,
If you live in a town with good schools (education), near transportation and highways (infrastructure) and major hospitals and research facilities (science), your box of glue and sticks will appreciate over time.
Sounds like you have been shut out of the housing market, and are bitter about it.