________ _________ is the practice of adjusting the value on properties that sold without regard to the market analysis performed in setting values for the population.

• A. Sales chasing
• B. Data dredging
• C. Market gaming
• D. Valuation inflation

Answer: (A)

This practice, known as sales chasing, occurs when the assessor adjusts a property's value to reflect its sale price rather than applying the standard market analysis used to set values for the rest of the population. In mass appraisal, values are developed from uniform methods and data to ensure consistency across properties; adjusting only for recently sold properties ties values to individual transactions instead of the overall market, which distorts uniformity and fairness. This approach can inflate values in a way that doesn’t reflect the broader market analysis, making comparisons unreliable. The other terms describe different concepts unrelated to this specific practice.