Halifax indexed-linked valuation- accurate?

Sportbilly_2

I'm currently looking to remortgage, probably to the Alliance and Leicester, and am a bit concerned about my LTV. My online account page with the Halifax currently tells me the mortgage amount outstanding (~£104,000) and the amount of equity they estimate I could apply for as an additional loan (£66,500). The note next to this figure states-

This figure is based on the Halifax indexed-linked valuation for your property

Can I just assume that as my house appears to be valued at a little over £170,000 by the Halifax, that other lenders should value it at pretty much the same?

Comyface

The Halifax indexed valuation is more accurate the more recently they have an actual valuation to work from if you know what I mean. eg. if you only took your mortgage out with them 2 years ago then it may be quite near the mark, but if you took your mortgage out with them 10 or more years ago then chances are it's not that accurate.

Halifax are only lending up to 80% LTV to existing borrowers by way of a further advance at the moment, so I wonder if the extra money they say you can apply for takes you up to 80% of their indexed valuation or if it's the full amount of equity they estimate you have.

I'll go online and check mine now, I know what their index says, and I'll come back and update you.

Update - it appears to be the full amount of equity that they say is available. Seems a little misleading to say you can apply for that when they obviously won't lend that much as it would take you to 100% LTV, but that's by the by.

Anyway, to answer your question, Halifax does appear to be valuing your house at ~£170k, I think they only update the index every six mionths (though I may be wrong, may be every three) so I wouldn't rely too much on their figure, knock it down a bit to be on the safe side.

beecher

I don't think it is accurate - my Halifax account states that I have £106,000 in equity and has not changed in months. In reality I'd be amazed if I still have much more than £60,000 and would never in a million years get the valuation they state from another lender.

Sportbilly_2

Cheers. We bought our house from new 5 years ago, so that would be the last time it was valued- like you say it's probably quite a bit out. I didn't want to spend £300+ on the prospective lender's valuation fee only to find out I'm out of the 65% LTV limit. By the looks of it, I'm going to be extremely close and would probably be safer waiting for a decent 75% LTV deal.

Robert_Sterling_3

Sportbilly wrote: »

Can I just assume that as my house appears to be valued at a little over £170,000 by the Halifax, that other lenders should value it at pretty much the same?

The HPI available to the public is not very accurate because the regions used are too big.
If they take smaller regions that brings with other difficulties.

If by "pretty much the same" you mean up to £25,000 difference then maybe.

opinions4u

Is it accurate? Sometimes.

Is it a good guide? Absolutely.

There are many local variables that it doesn't take in to account, especially in the current market where the number of housing transactions is low (and Halifax don't really appear to be chasing business).

At regional level, it probably gives the best guide, but at local post code level if they've been involved in mortgages on a couple of modern semis, that doesn't really allow them to accurately guage how much the main road terrace should sell for.

Better than the Nationwide survey, not as good as the Land Registry one.

Sportbilly_2

Heh, I'm starting to dither now...

The sticking point for me, is that if the valuation comes in lower than £160,000 then that would push me over 65% LTV and I'll have wasted £320 in fees. Realistically, I don't have enough spare cash to reduce the amount I'd need to borrow should that happen.

Any idea who I would need to contact to get a 'proper' valuation (an estate agent?), and what would be the likely cost? Or would that just be a guesstimate anyway and not necessarily reflect what A&L would value the house at?

dannykos

A&L just told me this morning that my house is valued at £181k - even though the halifax index online tells me that its more like £205k. I know that index only has Q4 2008 - so even taking off another 5% of value should give me more like £195k... i'm going to pay the £95 for a valuation

TEDDYRUKSPIN

Halifax and nationwide index valuation online is no longer accurate. Last November/December 2008 an article came out stating that they will no longer release the figures and indexation anymore.

figgyroo

dannykos wrote: »

A&L just told me this morning that my house is valued at £181k - even though the halifax index online tells me that its more like £205k. I know that index only has Q4 2008 - so even taking off another 5% of value should give me more like £195k... i'm going to pay the £95 for a valuation

Dannykos, is that an extra £95 on top of the valuation fee?

dannykos

nope - i'm an existing customer, so it's just a straight £95 for me.