Internet dominates in mortgage research

Research undertaken by Yorkshire Building Society and yourmortgage.co.uk, the price comparison website, claims that 95% of people looking for a mortgage will use the Internet, at some stage in their search.

The majority of people surveyed (60%) used search engines to find mortgage sites, although 25% relied on advertising and newspaper recommendations to locate lenders on the net.

Seventy-nine per cent of respondents said that they would consider applying for a mortgage online in the future but only 20% were happy with the idea of completing the entire application online.

Twenty-seven per cent of those questioned said they would only use the Internet for research purposes, while 39% agreed they would go so far as to get a quote.

The survey produced a conundrum, in that borrowers who already have a mortgage were more likely to use the Internet for research and quotes than first-time buyers, but less likely to apply online.

Both groups accepted that mortgage applications can be time consuming, with 73% of respondents expecting to spend an hour completing the process.

Seventy per cent of the respondents who were happy to proceed with an online application also wanted to be able to monitor their progress online, and 52% liked the idea of email updates.

Fifty-six per cent valued the opportunity to talk to an individual about their online application.

Dealing with advertising pop-ups proved difficult for 21% of those questioned and 19% had concerns over security.

David Jackson, Yorkshire’s Head of E-commerce, explains “We designed the survey to give us a greater understanding of what potential mortgage customers are looking for from a lender with an online facility.”

The building society already has all its mortgages available online and receives 20% of its mortgage business through via the Internet.

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