When the national real estate market began to decline in 2006-2007, what did many appraisers do regarding time adjustments?

• A. They stopped making time adjustments.
• B. They only used negative time adjustments.
• C. They increased time adjustments by a standard rate.
• D. They continued to make positive time adjustments out of habit.

Answer: (D)

Time adjustments reflect how market conditions have changed since a comp sold relative to the date of appraisal. In a declining market, adjustments should move in the direction that accounts for lower current prices, meaning older comps would typically require downward adjustments to align with the present market.

During the 2006–2007 downturn, many appraisers did not fully shift to reflecting the decline. Instead, they continued to apply positive time adjustments, essentially treating time as though values were still rising and compensating comps in the same direction as before. This habit kept older sales inflated relative to the current market, contributing to overvaluation.

So the answer describes a real pattern: appraisers kept making positive time adjustments out of habit, rather than fully adjusting for the downturn. The other options would ignore the market shift or prescribe adjustments that aren’t aligned with how market conditions actually moved.