New research conducted by Yorkshire Building Society and yourmortgage.co.uk has revealed that 95% of people looking for a mortgage will use the internet at some stage, with one in five prepared to complete the full mortgage online.
When asked about the future, 79% said that they would consider applying for a mortgage online. With hundreds of mortgage products to choose from, internet search engines are the most popular way for people to find mortgage sites, although mortgage advertising and newspaper recommendations is how a further 25% of mortgage-hunters choose the sites they visit.
Once on the internet, 27% of people looking for a mortgage will only use it for research, while a further 39% said they would proceed as far as getting a quote. Interestingly, borrowers who already have a mortgage are more likely to use the internet for research and quotes, but are less likely to apply for an online mortgage than first time buyers.
The research also provided evidence that both first time buyers and people who already have a mortgage understand that the mortgage application process can be lengthy with almost three out of four respondents expecting to spend an hour at their computer completing the process.
Of the respondents who were happy to proceed with an online mortgage application, 70% wanted to be able to monitor the progress of their application online, with 52% valuing email updates. Over half (56%) said they would appreciate being able to talk to an individual about their online mortgage, either in a local branch or through a call centre, rather than completing the whole process without speaking to a human being.
The two biggest deterrents to online mortgage applications highlighted by the research were advertising pop-ups and security concerns.
David Jackson, head of e-commerce at Yorkshire Building Society, said: 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. All YBS mortgages are available online and we already do 20% of our mortgage business through this channel.
It is therefore important that we ensure that our online process meets customer expectations, particularly as so many respondents indicated that they are likely to consider applying for their mortgage online in the future.