In this episode of The Appraiser’s Advocate, Tim Andersen, MAI, dives into a timeless question for real estate appraisers:  👉 Is market value the same as true value?  If not, what’s the difference?  Why are both important for an appraiser to know and understand?  If there is a “natural” value, is there the concept of “artificial” value?

We know market value as the benchmark in USPAP, FIRREA, and lending regulations — the most probable price a property would bring in a fair and open market. But beneath that definition lies an ethical dilemma: when the market shifts, does it still measure what’s real, or just what’s happening now?

Tim introduces the deeper idea of natural value — the intrinsic worth of property rooted in fairness, sustainability, and human flourishing. Drawing from Aristotle’s “just price,” Thomas Aquinas’s moral theology, and Adam Smith’s “natural price,” this episode compares market value’s precision with natural value’s conscience.

Using examples from the 2008 housing crash, farmland use, and the unseen value of wetlands, Tim shows how these two forms of value can drift apart — and why reconnecting them is vital to protecting public trust and ethical appraisal practice.

Whether you’re an appraiser, reviewer, attorney, or educator, this conversation will deepen your understanding of value — not just as a number, but as a moral commitment.

And as always, it pays to remember to keep your appraisal tools sharp and well-oiled.  Keep your ethics taught and properly layered.  Make sure your E&O Insurance is up to date.  And keep an administrative law attorney on speed-dial.