Real Estate Pop Appraisal Values?

I am always interested in pop appraisals, for-profit "Estimates of Value," "What's my home Worth?" and other teasers utilized to bring traffic and sales leads to websites.
I just talk to too many people who put some level of faith in these numbers, both Buyers and Sellers.
These pop appraisals are generated from "AVM" technologies.
"Automated Valuation Models."
It is the technology used by your local property tax assessors and some insurance companies to arrive at generalized figures with little current connection to any accurate market valuation.

In North Carolina, "Value" is the province of professional appraisers, who have license and accountability.
Real Estate agents are barred from offering "Market Value" calculations to folks for a fee.
Yet, using the AVM for commercial purposes, to generate business clearly indicates that the end game IS a "fee." Collection of revenue, with pop appraisal as part of the value proposition of the agent or site may well be considered a fee, albeit a bit indirect.

Instead of posting bogus figures from secretive derivative software and misleading the public, I would propose that firms, agents, and ad sites be regulated with some accountability for the "valuations" they post and offer to drive profits.
Any licensed appraiser, or professional appraiser trade group should be on board with that approach.

All of the below are fairly cookie-cutter, exclusive single tract-builder neighborhoods, with homes of the same age, and very similar repetitive styles.
When some in the public place their faith in these pop appraisals, I think it reasonable to think they don't really work much better than a stopped clock being right twice a day.



Likely Sale at about $360,000:
Likely sale about $240,000-$245,000:

Likely sale $410,000--$420,000: