Sorry to say, but there's your market value. Having been a realtor in a previous life, I remember being taught that market value is what a buyer is willing to pay for a property at a particular point in time. It does not matter what the last buyer paid, what the land cost, what amenities it has or anything else for that matter. Bottom line is - the value is what a buyer is willing to pay. Period. That's why comps are not based on listings, but on sales.
The daze of the 'Drive-By Appraisal' apparently are over according to this article:
Appraisers are looking for signs that values are headed lower. Lenders need to know if a home worth $400,000 today might be on its way to a value of only $360,000. They want assurance that borrowers will have enough cash invested in the home to keep them from walking out on the debt.
"There is higher scrutiny because the market is going down," said James Loizou, co-owner of Suburban Appraisers & Consultants in Fairfax.
Loan underwriters, the people who pass judgment on your loan application, are being more demanding. They want information on comparable home sales, homes still on the market, those under contract, closed sales, foreclosures and incentives offered by home builders.
They may even want info about homes that didn't sell and were taken off the market.
"Frankly, those are fair questions," Loizou said. "It just makes more work."
"You're looking at what's on the market today and at what's listed. That affects the appraisal, also," he said.
If there are foreclosures nearby, or home builders offering deep discounts, or desperate sellers setting their asking prices 10 percent lower than the most recent closed sale, your appraised value will be lower.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030703907.html