Telegraph story on downvaluations

I would like to help but we haven't seen any recent down valuations on purchases. I think that is mainly as buyers are building in a discount off the asking price, which then stands up to the lender's valuation.
We have had a few on remortgages, which can result in borrowers having to pay higher rates as it bumps them into the next pricing/risk bracket.

Down-valuations have become a common occurrence in today's property market, even when conservative estimates are used during remortgages or after tough negotiations by buyers. Valuers, who primarily represent lenders, often preempt potential declines in house prices, leading to down-valuations of 10-15%. Their main concern is reducing risk for lenders, especially in scenarios that could lead to litigation if the lender has to repossess a property.

This trend presents challenges for brokers, often requiring them to dispute valuations or switch lenders to find a more favorable surveyor. Valuers are adopting a cautious stance, prioritizing lender safety, which can prevent certain homebuyers from proceeding due to financial commitments.

While this landscape may seem challenging, it encourages consumers to make more considered decisions, potentially avoiding issues down the road. Down-valuations have peaked around two months ago but have since stabilized, as buyers have negotiated lower

Rental valuations have been awful this month with estate agents either well over estimating the rent or valuers underestimating. Its killed a couple of cases for me.

As a mortgage broker down valuations unfortunately come as part of the job. Over the past three months, I have seen an increase in the amount of down valuations coming through. I have mixed thoughts on this. Part of me believes that these could be avoided if estate agents monitored the market more closely managed the expectations of their clients and educated them in its movements instead of overpromising to gain instruction.

I have been victim to a down valuation of a buy-to-let property I have recently put on the open market. I believe that was a result of the property condition and lack of comparable data within the area.

Interesting times are ahead as property prices continue to decrease. On a positive note, there are still plenty of lenders offering 95% LTV which brings an element of confidence.

Surveyors are certainly out looking for issues at the moment. In the space of a month we've had 3 cases declined due to their proximity to what are actually quite nice pubs. You'd think this would be a selling point. Luckily because the clients were already using a broker it was easy for us to change lender to someone using an alternative firm of surveyors. Low and behold those subsequent surveys all went through fine. It's a bit bonkers and we'd love a bit of certainty but it doesn't seem like anything we can't handle.

Down valuations are really starting to affect divorces. Many couples who up until very recently would have received enough equity from the former marital home for both to re-house, are now faced with the stark reality that one or both will have to rent going forward. This is impacting all areas of the country and is most heavily affecting middle-class families who previously would not have had this issue.
Sadly this in turn is making child arrangements even more bitter in some cases as the children often "come with the house". It is also resulting in some couples being forced to live together whilst separated/divorced as they cannot sell their property. In some circumstances, this can produce a very toxic environment, especially for children, whilst also preventing the couple from moving on with their lives.

Downvaluations are having a huge impact on some of my clients. It's great for first-time buyers who are able to pick up cheaper housing as this can somewhat help to combat the impact of the higher interest rates.

However, I have homeowners with growing families desperate to upsize but they can't, as they no longer have the required equity in their current property to put down a big enough deposit on their onwards purchase. One of my clients accepted offers on his property by two separate buyers, but the sales fell through both times due to significant down vals.

It may just be a coincidence but the downvaluations seem to be occurring most where buyers have low deposits. This could potentially be due to lenders expecting a further slump in property prices.

I will say that all the news stories giving a running commentary on the movement of average house prices, the reality on the ground will be a little disappointing for some. Down valuations are a part of being a mortgage broker so they do happen from time to time. But in the vast majority of cases valuations are coming back fine. I am not seeing any more or less down valuations than what I would expect in normal market conditions.