Fears over extended lockdown

Activity continues unabated for most mortgage advisers during lockdown, but there are fears business could slow in the coming months if Covid restrictions continue.

Tuesday, August 31st 2021, 3:51PM 1 Comment

Geoff Bawden

Alert level restrictions for Auckland have been extended for the next two weeks in wake of the delta outbreak, while the rest of the nation will shift to level three on Wednesday. Northland is at level four until Wednesday.

Advisers say the past two weeks haven't halted activity so far, with a number of existing deals to get over the line.

NZFSG's Bruce Patten described it as "business as usual" for the firm, and said virtual auctions continued to happen under level four, attracting strong bids.

Sarah Bloxham of Lets Talk Mortgages said lockdown had caused little disruption so far, but said some new build purchases had been delayed as valuers were unavailable.

She said there could be a backlog in valuer availability once lockdown lifts.

"Valuers coming back to life in level three will be interesting, as there will be a big backlog from ones we have put in the system, and then ongoing clients getting out there, so that will take time to get back to normal. This is across the country but Auckland will need to be onto it so we catch up before summer hits."

Geoff Bawden of Q Group said he remained busy with pre-lockdown work, with a lag in processing due to slow turnaround times.

He fears an extended lockdown beyond the next two weeks could grind activity to a halt in October and November.

"If the lockdown continues in Auckland for five-plus weeks, like it looks like doing, then the big issue will come for mortgage advisers in October and November, because there will be nothing in the pot to fall back on to feed cashflow," he said.

"Furthermore if the market doesn’t rebound quickly that could cause issues for some who might have a leaner than desired Christmas."

Tags: Lending lockdown property valuers

« OCR hikes hit borrowers six months later

Resimac writing more prime loans and dealing with more advisers »

Special Offers

Comments from our readers

On 1 September 2021 at 10:45 am krish@mortgagesuite.co.nz said:

We have been working off existing workflow with few new applications but if the Lockdown continues, the level of activity will ween off. Development / Construction funding will get harder with continued delays, lack of labour and increased material cost. Lenders now want to ensure that Builders can procure materials and not just rely on the Fixed price Contracts.

Sign In to add your comment