Since entering the Lifetime mortgage market 18 months ago, Mortgage Express has enjoyed strong growth in this area, capturing 20% of the overall market and 30% of the intermediary market.
Roger Hillier, product development manager at Mortgage Express says that there has been a significant number of people wanting to borrow beyond the previous £250,000 Lifetime mortgage limit.
“Over the past ten years, the overall trend for the housing market has been that of increasing house prices. For example, in Greater London, the average house price in March 1995 was £184,779 compared with £520,023 in December 2003 and this is only the average. As a result, people with properties at the top end of the market are seeking larger Lifetime loans. We expect this to continue to increase over the next few years,” said Hillier.
“Given this housing price increase, it is no surprise that we have also experienced growth in the average size of Lifetime loans over the past year. Mortgage Express’ average Lifetime loan in Q1 2004 was £53,900 and by December 2004 it had increased to £70,200,” Hillier concludes.
Mike Lewis, Mortgage Operations Manager for the NHFA agrees that it is good news that Mortgage Express has increased it’s maximum Lifetime loan amount to £500,000.
“Many properties, especially those in the South East, now warrant this level of borrowing. The increased Mortgage Express Lifetime loan size will further help respond to the increasing customer enquiries in relation to both maintaining lifestyles and for IHT planning issues,” Lewis comments.
“As a result of competitive rates, market leading loan to values and now this increased loan size, Mortgage Express are further enhancing their presence in the Lifetime market,” he said.
Mortgage Express launched its Lifetime product in October 2003. Since then, it has won numerous awards in recognition of its responsible lending criteria and service, the most recent of which was the Mortgage Strategy Award for ‘Lifetime Provider’.
