The use of a pending mortgage reference point in valuation judgment

American real estate appraisers given identical valuation problems produced statistically different value estimates. The measured variable between experimental groups was an agency‐client treatment operationalized as a pending mortgage scenario. This finding is consistent with the view of anchoring as a routinized response to agent‐client concerns. Experienced appraisers may develop heuristic behaviors which subconsciously sensitizes them to agency‐client considerations. Although further research is warranted, this study provides initial experimental evidence of a causal link between agency‐client concerns and valuation bias.