The Appraisal Institute announced Jan. 15 that it designated 515 Members in 2012, a 73 percent increase over 2011 and the most new designations conferred since 1994. Of those, 427 received the MAI designation and 88 received the SRA designation.

Additionally, the total number of Designated members increased 4.2 percent between 2011 and 2012, and the total number of members and individuals affiliated with AI increased 0.2 percent during the same period.

The Jan. 1 launch of the Candidate for Designation program had a strong start with 4,278 individuals having enrolled in the program by year-end 2012.