AVM clarification

I guess I should clarify one point on behalf of the ‘old fashioned’ valuers, to avoid any misinterpretation of David’s remarks. Readers will be aware that with the typical mortgage application taking some weeks to complete, it is not and never has been the physical valuation that is the major factor in this timescale. For example, our own turnaround for a mortgage valuation is currently in the region of 2.7 working days – external appraisals are even faster.

With valuations normally instructed at the beginning of the process, our lender clients’ experience is that the legal elements cause the biggest delay headaches. In this respect, the Home Information Pack (HIP) as it is currently proposed may indeed still turn out to deliver benefits for lenders, buyers and sellers alike. Whether we will ever see AVM market penetration of 60 per cent, as David predicts, remains to be seen. This would after all be approximately 400 per cent of the penetration of the North American market by AVMs after 15 plus years and 50 per cent above the Council of Mortgage Lender’s (CML) own upper projection for five years from now. However, undoubtedly they have a part to play in the future of lower risk lending.

There is, rightly, a great deal of excitement regarding technological advances and our industries must embrace them if we are to continue to deliver benefits for the consumer. Like all good tools, the trick is knowing when and, perhaps more importantly, when not to deploy them for maximum advantage. e.surv and no doubt the wider valuer community continues to work alongside lenders and intermediaries to arrive at a blended ‘best practice’ approach in this area.

Richard Sexton

Director of business development

e.surv Chartered Surveyors