But that is now starting to change, real estate professionals said, in a shift that is giving the industry a much-needed boost. As the economy stabilizes, appraisals have begun to follow suit. Appraisers, mortgage brokers, and agents agree that appraisals in the city are now more accurate than they've been for the past few years, though they say there's still room for improvement.

Lately, "we've been able to get appraisals that are much more on point," said Stewart Grodzitsky, the transaction manager and managing director of the Elaine Clayman group at Brown Harris Stevens, who oversees about 100 transactions a year. "The appraisers are much more cautious now."

That's a major change from a year ago at this time. The Federal Housing Finance Agency implemented HVCC as an attempt to prevent lenders and third parties from influencing appraisals. But when the new guidelines went into effect in May 2009, they prompted a slew of complaints from brokers and sellers, who said the increased use of appraisal management companies brought more incompetent and out-of-town appraisers into New York City.

The preponderance of appraisers with scant local knowledge has led to valuations "riddled with errors," said Eric Appelbaum, president of Apple Mortgage. For example, he said one appraiser from Albany valued a one-bedroom apartment on the 50th floor of a building in the West 50s with striking views at $150,000 less than a second-floor apartment in the same building with no views.

Banks and purchasers may not realize there's a problem until too late.

"The random selection process [for appraisers] is like dating in New York: They have a good reputation, and it's not until the next morning that you realize you have a problem," said Steven Knobel, cofounder of the appraisal firm Mitchell, Maxwell and Jackson .

However, the situation is now improving for a number of reasons, industry professionals said.

First, appraisers are now being inundated with information from real estate brokers, who are afraid that their deals will be torpedoed by a low appraisal.

Even the New York City-based Knobel said when he does an appraisal, he's met at the door with reams of papers that include comps and floor plans -- "appraisal for dummies," as he calls it.

It helps that brokers now have more data to offer. When the economy first tanked, slow sales often meant there were few recent comps to provide guidance.

Now, "there's more data, so there are [fewer] surprises," said Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of appraisal firm Miller Samuel.

Meanwhile, according to Knobel, banks have compiled lists of approved appraisers for specific buildings to diminish complaints about out-of-town -- and out-of-touch -- appraisers. These bank-approved appraisers are judged to have ample experience valuing similar apartments and are less likely to dismiss features -- like extra storage space -- that nonlocal appraisers might undervalue.

"The values are not being decimated as they were; it's a little more predictable," said Appelbaum.

One exception is refinancing, said Suzanne Bach, senior vice president of the mortgage company Guardhill Financial.

"Appraisals are not coming in low, except on refinances," she said. "Purchases are fine."

The reason, she posited, is that many homeowners who aren't selling don't realize that their properties have declined in value.

"I think that has a lot to do with owners thinking their apartments are worth more," Bach said.

Professionals emphasized that problems haven't completely disappeared, and all agree that the art of appraisal is still undergoing major renovations. New federal Appraiser Independence Requirements are set to replace HVCC this month, but Miller said the changes are simply "window dressing."

"Structurally, nothing has changed," he said.

While the greater availability of data means appraisers now make fewer errors, "there are still more than there should be, because we haven't fixed anything," he said. "It's still hit or miss."

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