Following a surge in house price growth in recent months, more home loan applications are falling into banks' "high value" category, requiring a valuation.
The demands are adding to a backlog of valuations, with valuers already struggling to cope during the market boom.
Cities outside of Auckland are seeing more homes than ever included in the "high value" category. Homes in Tauranga are increasingly passing the $1 million mark, forcing buyers to get hold of a valuation before their loans can be rubber stamped.
The need for valuations is causing headaches for clients, with most vendors opting for auctions in a sellers' market.
Buyers are struggling to get the valuations they need on time in order to go unconditional with their offers.
A host of mortgage brokers say valuation issues have become even more testing in recent weeks.
Joel Oliver of SuperCity Mortgages said e-valuations were taking time to catch up to the market, and said banks had outdated luxury property price caps.
He said, "$2 million in Auckland is no longer luxury."
iLender's Jeff Royle (pictured) said valuations were "equally as bad" as overall turnaround times in the current climate.
Sarah Bloxham of Lets Talk Mortgages said valuers were a major problem affecting deals.
"We submitted a valuation on July 27 for a client for an auction on August 5, that’s eight working days notice, and there were no valuers available until August 9," she said.
