What are the new appraisal rules?

The main recent changes are the Appraiser Qualifications Board criteria effective January 1, 2026, and a federal amendment enacted July 11, 2026. The 2026 criteria add an 8-hour Valuation Bias and Fair Housing course, raising trainee qualifying education to 83 hours and Licensed Residential education to 158 hours. The July 2026 amendment requires states that operate trainee programs to include trainee credentials on the rosters they send the Appraisal Subcommittee, without requiring any state to create a trainee program.

The main change: effective January 1, 2026, the Appraisal Qualifications Board's criteria raise trainee qualifying education from 75 to 83 hours, adding an 8-hour Valuation Bias and Fair Housing course to the existing USPAP, Basic Appraisal Principles, and Basic Appraisal Procedures courses. Hawaii's trainee registration form still prints the pre-2026 package, but the state's rules adopt the national criteria by reference. Hawaii also requires the 7-hour USPAP update for every renewal.

The biggest change is the Appraisal Qualifications Board (AQB) Qualification Criteria that took effect January 1, 2026. Trainee qualifying education rose from 75 to 83 hours, and Licensed Residential education rose from 150 to 158 class hours, because a new Valuation Bias and Fair Housing course joined the required curriculum. In standards, the most recent USPAP update took effect January 1, 2024, and Advisory Opinion 41, covering technology such as automated valuation models and generative AI, was adopted April 23, 2026.

New Hampshire adopted The Appraisal Foundation's changes effective January 1, 2026. Candidates seeking qualifying education must now complete an 8-hour Valuation Bias and Fair Housing course, with 7 hours of instruction plus a 1-hour exam. Practicing appraisers must complete a course covering the same outline every 2 calendar years: 7 hours the first time, which is waived if it was completed as qualifying education, and at least 4 hours in each cycle after that.

The main new rules took effect January 1, 2026, when the updated Appraiser Qualifications Board criteria raised qualifying education requirements in New Mexico. Trainee applicants must now complete 83 board-approved hours of qualifying education, which adds an 8-hour valuation bias and fair housing course to the curriculum, and the Licensed Residential minimum rose to 158 hours. Renewals also require a 7-hour Valuation Bias and Fair Housing course within the 28 hours of continuing education due every two years by April 30.

The appraisal rules that took effect January 1, 2026 are the Appraisal Qualifications Board criteria, which the North Dakota Real Estate Appraiser Qualifications and Ethics Board adopts. The change raised qualifying education from 75 to 83 hours for the apprentice level and from 150 to 158 hours for the licensed level, by adding a required 8-hour Valuation Bias and Fair Housing Laws and Regulations course. The Board's requirements summary, effective January 1, 2026, sets out the apprentice, licensed, certified residential, and certified general criteria.

The main change is the Appraiser Qualifications Board criteria effective January 1, 2026, which add an 8-hour Valuation Bias and Fair Housing course at every credential level. The change raises trainee qualifying education from 75 to 83 hours and state-licensed education from 150 to 158 hours. South Dakota adopted the new course structure in rule amendments effective October 15, 2026.

New appraisal rules took effect in 2026. The Appraiser Qualifications Board's January 1, 2026 criteria, which Virginia incorporates, add an 8-hour Valuation Bias and Fair Housing course to qualifying education and set education at 158 hours for Licensed Residential, 200 for Certified Residential, and 300 for Certified General. For renewal, a Valuation Bias and Fair Housing course of at least 7 hours is required the first time, then at least 4 hours every two calendar years. Virginia also adds a Technology Fee of $7.25 per year to certain fees from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2030.