Online presence can be extremely beneficial to mortgage lenders, especially those with competitive online rates, optimized websites, and integrated point-of-sale platforms, Mortgagebot data shows, and a growing number of mortgage shoppers are heading to their computers to find information, check rates, and fill out loan applications.
Lenders with optimal Internet presence were able to garner eight times as many online mortgage applications as their less successful counterparts, according to one segment of the Mortgagebot survey.
A record number of mortgage shoppers are utilizing the Internet, much to the benefit of lenders who have developed a strong online mortgage origination platform. Approximately 40% of surveyed lenders reported receiving a quarter of their loan applications online, a huge increase from 2000, when online applications accounted for less than 1% of all mortgages.
Many in the market for a mortgage use the Internet to research rates, and visitors checking rates accounted for 54% of lenders’ site traffic, says survey data; sites with more competitive rates produced nearly 12 times the volume of their counterparts in 2010.
Site visitors are also willing to spend time filling out an online mortgage application, the survey reveals. And, even if they don’t have enough time to complete the application, they’ll come back, says Mortgagebot, as nearly half of applications were submitted over multiple sessions, and 90% of the returning users submitted their application within two weeks of starting it.
Those in the market for a mortgage see an added benefit to an online platform as many end up applying after business hours, at 37%.
Mortgage shoppers are highly inclined to fill out applications online, the survey says, as 72% of borrowers who were eligible to fill out an online application did so, if they were given a “simple, optimized, application experience.”
A copy of Mortgagebot’s Benchmarks 2011 survey can be obtained by visiting this website.
Written by Alyssa Gerace
