Expats should take heart

The direct and indirect impact of COVID-19 has affected the performance of different sectors and financial markets in different ways. The world’s major indices have suffered considerable losses – recently, it was reported that The Dow Jones Industrial Average crashed by almost 32%.

Other financial assets have so far proven resilient, such as UK real estate

The ‘Boris bounce’

House prices are typically used as an indicator of capital growth for real estate. In 2019, the political deadlock over Brexit resulted in significant market uncertainty and modest house price growth. Some commentators feared house prices would drop significantly as a consequence of Brexit – however unlikely such events actually were.

Boris Johnson’s victory in the 2020 General Election and his subsequent ability to pass the EU Withdrawal Bill through parliament resulted in surging investor interest in residential real estate. House Price Indexes for March 2020 provided evidence to this affect.

Both Halifax and Nationwide recorded that average residential property prices that month were 3% higher than they were the year prior.

With Brexit uncertainty forgotten, sellers were again eager to place their properties on the market. Coupled with the government’s growing excitement about ushering their new ‘housebuilding revolution’, it seemed that the UK was finally ready to confront the ongoing housing crisis and match the growing demand for housing with the adequate level of supply; generating strong increases market activity and a return of strong value returns all-round.

COVID-19 has put a pause on transactions

Lockdown measures imposed by the government in a bid to contain the COVID-19 outbreak has had a significant impact on the real estate market.

For the moment, the government is actively discouraging people from buying and selling properties, and some lenders have reacted to this news by deciding not to take on new enquiries.

However, I believe the momentum around the post ‘Boris Bounce’-market has not disappeared. In fact, in lieu of transactions being available, pent-up demand is likely to further exacerbate market activity once the pandemic is over.

Ultimately, it can be said that COVID-19 has, in a sense, taken the place of Brexit uncertainty in artificially supressing market activity and, thus, property price growth.

This means that once the virus is contained there is no reason to suggest why the property market will not make a quick recovery.

Definitely yes! One big difference between the challenges of 2020 and the economic turbulence of 2008’s credit crunch is that there is no issue with the liquidity for banks and building societies.

They have the means and the willingness to lend. However, what we are seeing are disparities with how each lender responds to the current situation.

Some lenders have been impacted from a service perspective more than others due to staff shortages.

We are seeing these lenders have to withdraw some mortgage products, or to cap loan to values (the percentage of the property value they will lend as a mortgage against the property) to limit and manage the amount of business they attract, in order to give themselves breathing space.

For example, in recent days some major lenders have temporarily introduced a maximum loan to value of 60% whilst they manage service levels.

What about a valuation?

Physical valuations have been put on hold during this period of self-isolation. This means that valuations are currently deferred for an initial period of around four weeks.

However, this does not mean you should hold off applying for your mortgage. By submitting the application you are locking in the mortgage rate offered with most lenders, which with current fluctuations is worthwhile to secure a low rate on your mortgage.

You can also get the majority of the paperwork and processing done, so that just the valuation will be required.

Also, some lenders will look to do a valuation on a desktop, or automated basis using data and knowledge of the location.

Where these are applicable, and on re-mortgages these are quite common, applications are processing to mortgage offer as normal. A broker can help guide you on which lenders offer these types of valuations.

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