Down valuations

"Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself by saying this, but we've been fortunate enough not to have any down-valuations for quite some time. That being said, with offers sometimes exceeding sensible figures, I do forewarn my clients about the potential issues of a down-valuation. Due to the number of offers that we usually receive, we're therefore able to assess the potential risk of down-valuation as part of the offer process. A buyer with a large deposit, for example, would be far less likely to have to re-negotiate should a valuation come back lower than expected. We deal a lot with Countrywide Surveyors and Esurv surveyors in this area and the only time we've ever really had a major issue is when a typo was made on the valuation report. I do feel as though the market has cooled ever so slightly, and I do wonder if we're going to start seeing more issues with mortgage valuations in the near future."

"More through luck than judgment, I have been fortunate to not have a huge amount of down valuation issues, or certainly not regarding value. There have been a higher number of issues with cladding on apartments. That being said, on the few valuations that have seen surveyors disagreeing with the estate agents or clients' estimate of the value they have been quite large, often between 10 and 20 per cent of the value; significant enough that in most cases it is a deal-breaking reduction. There is little feedback given to us as brokers, so we're often left in the dark as to why the surveyor's valuation is so far adrift from the client's or estate agent's figure, which then makes trying to explain what's happened to a confused and upset client even harder."

"We're seeing them left, right and centre unfortunately, as surveyors struggle to keep up with the reality that house prices are going through the roof. Their sold comparables are likely based on sale prices agreed over 6 months ago and when house prices have risen by over 5% since then, we're requiring a good degree of luck for a house to value up when a client has agreed to pay top dollar for a property. All in all it's pretty frustrating when you have a queue of other would-be buyers willing to pay the same price for the property. The most insane examples though seem to be on rental valuations when we have surveyors giving a lower rental valuation than that currently being received by a landlord. How is that even possible in a booming rental market?"

"We're seeing a number of down valuations on London flats. This reflects surveyor concerns that the long-term trend in demand for such properties in the post-pandemic world is a downward one. However, rental demand and rents for such properties are soaring, a good indicator that overall demand for such properties will remain strong."

I luckily have not suffered with too many of these being based in the South East, mind you with the M20 as blocked as a constipated pensioner or a red meat diet. Most valuers are probably just guessing the values as they cannot get anywhere!! What I have heard though from other brokers that I speak with, who are suffering from this are mainly coming from one valuation company, which is ironic as that company also owns an estate agency that sells houses at over inflated prices.