Newz: UAD 3.6: The Appendices, Will Florida Governor Eliminate Property Taxes?

June 19, 2026

What’s in This Newsletter (In Order, Scroll Down)

  • LIA AD: Expanding Intended Users? Not So Fast
  • UAD 3.6 Answer Headquarters: The Appendices
  • Private Island for Sale: 25-Acre Historic Maine Estate Lists for $3.85 Million
  • Buying a private island & prices are now higher than last year
  • By Ryan Lundquist
  • MY AD: Doug Smith’s tips on selecting UAD 3.6 software
  • Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Unveils His Plan To Virtually Eliminate Property Taxes
  • A record 242 U.S. cities now have starter homes that cost $1M
  • MBA STATS: Mortgage applications decreased 3.8 percent from one week earlier

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UAD 3.6 Answer Headquarters: The Appendices

Excerpts: Start Here: The Appendices as Your Foundation

When Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rolled out UAD 3.6, they published an entire documentation ecosystem to go with it. That ecosystem includes a full suite of appendices (A-1 through G-1), each serving a specific purpose. Some are highly technical and aimed at software developers and data delivery. But for appraisers doing the day-to-day work of completing reports, three appendices are essential core references: F-1, C-1, and D-1.

Here’s how each one functions:

Appendix F-1: The Field-by-Field Reference Guide

If there’s a single document that deserves the title of “master manual” for the dynamic URAR, it’s Appendix F-1. This is your comprehensive field guide. It details every possible field in the report, specifies when each field is required (and when it’s conditional), defines what answers are acceptable, and explains how data must be formatted.

Appendix C-1: Your Visual Roadmap

If F-1 is the user manual, C-1 is the map. Appendix C-1 is a visual layout of the dynamic URAR that shows every possible field and label that could appear in a report, giving you a complete picture of the report’s full scope before you ever open an assignment.

Appendix D-1: Context and Practical Examples

While F-1 and C-1 handle the mechanics of the report, Appendix D-1 adds interpretive depth. This appendix provides sample scenarios that show how specific data elements fit into the overall appraisal and are particularly useful when you’re dealing with edge cases or less common property situations.

Layer In the Selling and Servicing Guides

The appendices answer the “how” of UAD 3.6. For the “why”—the policy context and secondary market expectations behind those requirements—you need to work with the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Selling and Servicing Guides.

To read more details in the article, Click Here

For more information, go to Fannie’s Uniform Appraisal Dataset page,

Click Here To read the documents scroll down the page

My comments: This is the best explanation of the GSE AD 3.6 documents. Read this article!! UAD 3.6 can be confusing with many documents available. This article breaks them down so you can understand what they do.

When I took my first UAD 3.6 class “Appraiser’s Guide to the New URAR” in early 2025 it was overwhelming and mostly went over F-1. Now I know what the other documents cover.

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Private Island for Sale: 25-Acre Historic Maine Estate Lists for $3.85 Million

Excerpts: 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, 3,346 sq.ft., 25 acre lot, built in 1862

The island retreat is being offered as a fully private sanctuary, with the surrounding acreage providing ample room for outdoor recreation, boating, kayaking, and exploring Maine’s rugged coastline.

“This property, formerly the home of renowned artist Stephen Etnier, features a meticulously maintained, four to five bedroom Federal home, a substantial Deer Isle-granite deep water pier, a large separate artist’s studio, boathouse, old stonework, perennial gardens, an ancient orchard, waterfront meadows, mainland parking/access and wonderful woodland walking trails over 25 acres—all protected under thoughtful conservation,” reads the listing.

Original architectural details throughout the home serve as a reminder of the property’s 19th-century roots, while the thoughtful layout allows residents and guests to enjoy sweeping vistas from multiple vantage points

The space is designed to capitalize on the property’s secluded setting, offering a front-row seat to sunrises, sunsets, and passing boats.

To read the listing, Click Here

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Buying a private island & prices are now higher than last year

By Ryan Lundquist

Excerpts:

TOP 10 REASONS TO BUY AN ISLAND

  • Bragging rights. “Bro, I own an island.”
  • Throw a big party (Sacramento Fyre Festival).
  • Finally, you have privacy.
  • Become an Instagram island influencer.
  • Open a drive-through coffee shop for boats.
  • Move far away from any HOA.
  • Use the parcel to film season nine of Love Island.
  • Helicopter landing pad.
  • Create a vacation destination with Airbnb potential.
  • Buy and rename the island after your business.

To read more, Click Here

My comments

To read more about Ryan’s story about a recent local island, read the article, plus the appraisers comments about islands.

You may have noticed I often link to Island listings.

For the past 40 years I have lived on an urban island in San Francisco Bay, Alameda, CA. about 10 miles east of San Francisco with a population of about 78,000. It is partially a “man made” island with canals that separate it from the City of Oakland.

I will never leave my island. I don’t even like leaving it to go to other nearby cities. Many of us say that. I have no idea why we think that.

For about 15 years I raced my 22 ft. sailboat in the Bay and sailed by most of the islands from small ones such as Red Rock and East Brother Light Station (a restored Victorian Bed and Breakfast Inn) to Alcatraz, former prison (one of the largest islands) and now a big tourist attraction where they have tours.

Some islands have interesting stories, including buying and selling. Appraiser Joe Lynch’s comment to Ryan’s post: “My scoutmaster when I was a kid owned Red Rock Island in the Bay. It is the only private island in the Bay. He won it in a poker game. His kids, friends of mine, have been trying to sell it for 15 years. Crazy property located in 3 counties.”

Below is a photo of Red Rock

It was listed in 1923-24 for $25 million. Several newspaper articles said “The final sale price and the buyer’s identity remain strictly confidential.”

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Doug Smith’s tips on selecting UAD 3.6 software

In the June, 2026 issue of Appraisal Today

Excerpts:

Many appraisers are considering software changes to meet UAD 3.6. Before watching demos or comparing price sheets, the first step is not shopping – it is inventory.

Take a careful look at what you use today. Your monitor size. Laptop speed. Internet reliability. Tablet (or no tablet). Measuring tools. Sketch program. Photography workflow. Dictation capability. Every MLS and public records site you routinely plug into.

UAD 3.6 is not just a new form – it is a structured data workflow. The winning software choice is the one that reduces re-entry, reduces missed data fields, and reduces revision cycles.

It is also important to ask where each company truly stands on the UAD 3.6 timeline. The GSE mandate for UAD 3.6 new submissions is November 2, 2026, with the transition from legacy formats ending May 3, 2027. Traditional form numbers (i.e. 1004) are being retired.

Pricing models are still evolving. Some will be subscription-based. Some modular. Some per-report. Some still undecided.

Before committing, consider the value of a structured trial. Don’t just click around. Run the same real-world sample assignment through competing platforms. Track friction: number of clicks, duplicate entry, sketch handling, photo workflow, compliance prompts, and output quality. A trial has merit only if you test it systematically.

This may also be the moment to modernize a weak link – scan-to-sketch, improved photo workflows, or AI-assisted data organization – but verify ANSI compliance if evaluating interior scan measuring tools. Measurement defensibility matters.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Unveils His Plan To Virtually Eliminate Property Taxes

By Realtor.com

“You pay all these taxes to acquire that property, and then, year after year, you have to write a check just for the privilege of being able to maintain ownership of something that is supposedly yours.”

DeSantis proposed raising the state’s homestead exemption, currently set at $50,000 for owner-occupied houses, to a $250,000 limit. He estimated that this would eliminate property tax for 60% of Florida homeowners.

In general, a “homestead” property in Florida is defined as a person’s primary residence, one they must live in and own or have a primary interest in. If the effort succeeds, Florida will become the first state in the nation with no property taxes.

“If it’s successful, when you raise it to the $500,000 limit, that’s 92% of all Florida residents [who] would be tax-free. I think this bottom-up approach is a better approach,” the governor said.

How would it work?

DeSantis said he supported a phased approach to eliminate the tax, moving up from the $250,000 baseline. He didn’t think he could get political support for an outright abolition of property taxes in the Legislature.

To read more, Click Here

My comments: On June 6, 1978, California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 13, a property tax limitation initiative. This amendment to California’s Constitution was the taxpayers’ collective response to dramatic increases in property taxes and a growing state revenue surplus.

Proposition 13 (or “Prop. 13”) rolled back most local real estate assessments to 1975 market value levels, limited the property tax rate to 1 percent plus the rate necessary to fund local voter-approved bonded indebtedness, and limited future property tax increases to a maximum of 2% per year.

I was working at a California assessor’s office then, and quit a few years later as there were no more periodic reassessments. I was never again assigned to appraise all the properties in a specific geographic area. Instead you only did appraisals when there were property improvements, sale or tax appeals.

I purchased my duplex for $120,000 in 1985. It is now worth over $1 million. The assessed value has only increased 2% per year maximum.

Proposition 13 will never be eliminated.

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A record 242 U.S. cities now have starter homes that cost $1M

The count of cities with $1 million starter homes has nearly tripled since 2020, an enduring sign of how the pandemic housing boom reset affordability for first-time buyers

Excerpts:

Key takeaways

The number of cities where a typical starter home is worth $1 million or more has nearly tripled since before the pandemic, rising from 80 in February 2020 to a record 242 today.

California still has the most cities with million-dollar starter homes, but New York and New Jersey are seeing the fastest growth.

Nationwide, the typical starter home is worth $198,649, up 1.7% from a year ago.

The effects of the pandemic housing boom have proven durable. A housing shortage, a decade in the making, ran headlong into intense demand amid historic lows in mortgage rates, driving up home values at a record pace. While plenty of markets are still feeling the pinch of this price reset, conditions are slowly becoming friendlier for buyers: The typical home buyer now breaks even relative to renting after roughly six years, down from more than eight years in late 2023.

“The pandemic reset the cost of buying a home, spreading million-dollar starter homes from a handful of coastal states to more than two dozen states across the country,” said Kara Ng, senior economist at Zillow. “But while it may feel like a market of beer tastes at champagne budgets, those million-dollar starter homes are still the exception. More inventory, slower price growth and a narrowing rent-versus-buy gap mean buyers who are financially prepared are generally in better shape than in recent years.”

To read more, Click Here

My comments: read about more analysis and data from all over the country.

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HOW TO USE THE NUMBERS BELOW. Appraisals are ordered after the loan application. These numbers tell you the future for the next few weeks. For more information on how they are compiled, Click Here.

Note: I publish a graph of this data every month in my paid monthly newsletter, Appraisal Today. For more information or get a FREE sample go to www.appraisaltoday.com/order Or call 510-865-8041, MTW, 7 AM to noon, Pacific time.

My comments: Rates are going up and down. We are all waiting for rates to drop lower in 2027.

Mortgage applications decreased 3.8 percent from one week earlier

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 17, 2026) — Mortgage applications decreased 3.8 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 12, 2026.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 3.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 5 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 5 percent from the previous week and was 17 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 3 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 5 percent compared with the previous week and was 3 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

“Last week’s CPI data showed that inflation continued to move higher, putting upward pressure on rates early in the week, but growing optimism regarding the opening of the Strait of Hormuz brought rates down again by the end of the week,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s SVP and Chief Economist. “The net impact reduced mortgage application activity, with both purchase and refinance application volume down for the week by 3 percent and 5 percent, respectively. Purchase applications continue to run modestly ahead of last year, with last week’s volume up 3 percent on an annual basis, with stronger growth in conventional purchase volume while government purchase volume remained subdued.”

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 40.3 percent of total applications from 40.2 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 8.5 percent of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications increased to 17.5 percent from 17.4 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications decreased to 12.9 percent from 13.4 percent the week prior. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged from the week prior at 0.4 percent.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($832,750 or less) remained unchanged from 6.60 percent, with points remaining unchanged from 0.63 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate remained unchanged from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $832,750) decreased to 6.62 percent from 6.66 percent, with points increasing to 0.57 from 0.54 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA decreased to 6.25 percent from 6.27 percent, with points decreasing to 0.73 from 0.78 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 6.02 percent from 5.99 percent, with points decreasing to 0.65 from 0.68 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 5.86 percent from 5.96 percent, with points increasing to 0.81 from 0.75 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The survey covers U.S. closed-end residential mortgage applications originated through retail and consumer direct channels. The survey has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks, thrifts, and credit unions. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.


Ann O’Rourke, MAI, SRA, MBA
Appraiser and Publisher Appraisal Today

1826 Clement Ave. Suite 203 Alameda, CA 94501

Phone: 510-865-8041

Email:  ann@appraisaltoday.com

Online: www.appraisaltoday.com

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