TECHNICAL BULLETIN
ISSUE 30
NOVEMBER 2018
DOWN VALUATIONS EXPLAINING WHAT THEY MEAN CHRIS RISPIN BSC FRICS, DIRECTOR, BLUEBOX PARTNERS
Director of BlueBox Partners, Chris Rispin, explains what the valuer is trying to achieve and what the seller can expect from ‘down valuations’. But what are they covering their backs against? Is it the buyers to whom the valuer has a duty of care to ensure that the value is supportable in the general market? Is it the seller who is trying to get the best price for the property and to whom the valuer has no tortious duty or contract? Is it the regulator governing the actions of the valuer checking for independence and objectivity? Or, is it the lender who has a contract with the valuer and expects advice in accordance with an agreed specification for a mortgage valuation and who issued thousands of claims in the recent property recession for allegedly “over valuing”?
Recent media coverage has alleged ‘down valuations’ are stopping some buyers from getting mortgages sorted out. A BBC story in July 2018 says that there has been a “significant” increase in properties being valued at an amount less than the buyers agreed to pay. This means, according to the UK’s largest mortgage advisers, that buyers are having to find the extra money up front to avoid the loss of the property. However, some buyers have been able to renegotiate the price of the property in line with the valuation.
What exactly are ‘down valuations’?
Emoov’s CEO Russell Quirk said that ‘down valuations’ are down to surveyors “simply covering their backs”
The graph below supplied by LSL Acadata demonstrates the overall impact of house prices. As you can see, various organisations report that asking prices are down in some
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