FHA appraisals are generally valid for 180 days from the effective date of the appraisal report. This initial validity period was extended from 120 days to 180 days by the FHA as of June 1, 2022, to better align with industry practices and reduce administrative burdens for lenders and borrowers
. If the loan closing will occur after the initial 180-day period, an appraisal update can be performed to extend the validity. The appraisal update validity period has also been extended-from 240 days to one year from the effective date of the original appraisal report. The FHA removed the previous optional 30-day extension, and the update no longer needs to be completed before the initial appraisal expires, only before loan disbursement
. In summary:
- Initial FHA appraisal validity: 180 days
- Appraisal update validity: Up to 1 year from the original appraisal date
- No 30-day optional extension anymore
This means an FHA appraisal can be used for up to six months initially, and if updated properly, it can be valid for up to a full year
. Additionally, once completed, the FHA appraisal becomes a permanent record linked to the property in the FHA database, but the validity period governs how long it can be used for FHA mortgage approval
