Slow progress for mortgage auction site

A website allowing borrowers to put their mortgage up for auction has been making slow progress since it launched.

Monday, January 28th 2008, 7:30AM
Users can put their mortgage application online at Fundit and a panel of lenders then get to bid for the business by offering competitive rates.

Fundit chief executive Abby Foote says around 500 auctions have been conducted, however the settlement rate has been much lower.

She won't disclose the actual number, but did say that in total around $3 million worth of loans have been settled since the site went live in the middle of last year.

Foote says the site has delivered some good rates to borrowers with the biggest discounts off carded rates being up to 40 basis points.

One of the frustrations for Fundit has been that often people will go back to their main bank after the auction process and that bank will match the rate offered through the site.

She says average loan sizes are around $300,000 to $400,000 and that the site is being used by property investors as well as owner-occupiers.

While it has been a slower than anticipated start for the site Foote is firmly of the view that the auction process will become more popular.

"We are taking a medium term view of things," she says. Fundit's lending panel is made up of two banks, Bank of New Zealand and Kiwibank, four building societies, one trust, and one other lender.

Foote says the banks have been the most active as building societies have strict lending criteria.

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