80% of buyers fed up with out-of-date mortgages

Commissioned by lending platform Tic:Toc and conducted by data company Pureprofile, the survey covered a panel of 1,000 Australians who had purchased property in the last three years.

The research set out to understand the relationship between property and mortgage transactions, and asked respondents about their property purchase experiences or the experiences of their family, friends or relatives who had bought in the last three years.

Among respondents, 84 per cent said that they believed the loan assessment, processing and approval departments within lenders needed to move faster to be in line with the property sales market. Three-quarters (76 per cent) believed that lenders were old-fashioned in their services and offerings and needed to innovate.

When taking out a mortgage, more than a third (37 per cent) of respondents said that they had experienced delays on the part of the lender, either in loan preparation, meeting the settlement date or receiving loan documents without mistakes, which delayed the approval process and forced buyers to extend the settlement period in some cases.

It also found that 31 per cent of respondents had experienced anxiety during the loan approval period.

Looking at generational differences, the survey revealed that Gen X were almost twice as likely as Baby Boomers to be faced with delays on the part of the lender (48 per cent of Gen X respondents compared with 26 per cent of Baby Boomers).

Tic:Toc founder and CEO Anthony Baum said that buyers are under immense stress.

“Dwelling prices are 9.1 times the household income in Sydney, 7.5 times the household income in Melbourne and 5.9 times in household income in Brisbane,” Mr Baum said.

“While anxiety is now an expected part of the home buying process, lenders can be doing more to improve the home loan experience. This includes digital property valuations, online identification and credit checks, and alternatives to submitting payslips and bank statements.”