Bravish New World

Aldous Huxley probably didn’t have financial regulation in mind when he wrote his novel about a dystopian world order, but the slew of newly formed global rules, that today govern international finance, does have a touch of that Brave New World feeling.

Yes, a lot has been happening in the world of Finance lately.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Basel III regulatory framework was finalised last December, with a staged implementation phase over the next 5 years; 10 if you include the Tier 1 capital ratio buffers.

Five years might sound a lot, but when you know that the best banks will want to adopt these new standards well ahead of their competition and the BIS’s own deadlines, you know the race is well and truly on. Additionally this January, both the International Financial Reporting Standard 9 (IFRS9) and MiFID 2 went live too.

A cynic might argue that ultimately all of these new regulations have been brought in to ensure that the next financial crisis is not like the last one. There is more than a grain of truth in that. However, let’s not forget that the 2007/2008 Global Financial Crisis’s Pudding Lane, was the US sub-prime mortgage market.

Ten years on and now all of this may seem like distant thunder to participants in real estate, but actually a great part of what all these new financial fire break regulations do, is put an intense focus on Pudding Lane and particularly on property based finance and securitization.

Amongst the myriad effects designed to improve financial stability through Basel III, these new standards demand regular and better stress testing of the left hand side of the lenders’ balance sheet and specifically Loan To Value (LTV) bands and their associated Risk Weightings.
So for Assets, think real estate, commercial and residential property valuations and any lending based on these, mortgages, MBS and RMBS. These are in addition to the more obvious aspects of credit risk analysis of borrowers and credit default probabilities, along with forecasting and stress testing of future risks and then provisioning for them. All together, quite tricky stuff.

World Keeps Spinning

Meanwhile the real world has not quite stopped while these new regulatory frameworks were being figured out, let alone implemented. During this time it was not surprising that traditional mortgage lending remained and continues to remain subdued, whilst these participants have their financial probity medicine administered. Equally unsurprising that while this happened, a host of ‘alternative finance’ new entrants have entered into the property lending space. Now what is interesting, is that obviously these new lenders come at a cost and that actually any non-bank or non-regulated lender will likely have a much higher cost of capital, all of which will be passed on to the borrower. This is instructive, as it shows that the actual cost of a mortgage works out as the sum of the credit worthiness of the lender and the borrower plus the risk free rate. However what both traditional lenders and new participants all need, is a clear objective estimate of the collateral (underlying property), the fair value, which actually leads to the mortgage offer and thus the LTV.

Quickly you can see there is a problem, the Pudding lane problem. The GFC fire started with the tinder of poor real estate valuations, the oxygen of leverage through securitization and fanned with the accelerant of fraudulent lending criteria. We cant do anything about the last two, but we can get better valuations thanks to applying AI, Machine Learning and Big data.

Written by: Eldred Buck – info@houseprice.ai

EAN Content

Content shared by this account is either news shared free by third parties or sponsored (paid for) content from third parties. Please be advised that links to third party websites are not endorsed by Estate Agent Networking - Please do your own research before committing to any third party business promoted on our website. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Homeowners in England and Wales overvalue their properties by an average of 16%

Homeowners in England and Wales are overestimating the value of their property by an average of 16%, according to new figures. Data from Quick Move Now compares homeowner estimates with formal estate agent valuations and is broken down by both region and property type. Overall, homeowners overvalue in every single category.   Regional breakdown Region…
Read More
Visual blemishes on Roads due to service upgrades
Estate Agent Talk

Emergency Sidewalk Repairs: When to Act and Who to Call

Sidewalks are the unsung heroes of city infrastructure—quietly assisting tens of millions of footsteps every day. But when they crack, disintegrate, or shift all of sudden, they might quickly turn out to be volatile liabilities. In a town like New York, in which pedestrian site visitors are constant and belongings proprietors are legally chargeable for…
Read More
Breaking News

Reapit report reveals agents’ long-term market confidence amid legislative challenges

Despite the significant challenges posed by a shifting economic landscape and the largest wave of housing legislation in decades, estate and letting agents remain steadfast in their confidence about their long-term future in the industry. According to the first Reapit Property Outlook Report 2025, covering the full breadth of sales and lettings agency opinion countrywide,…
Read More
Breaking News

Owner-Occupiers Drive Resilient Commercial Property Market

Buying Becomes 37% Cheaper Than Renting The latest Commercial Property Demand Index from specialist property finance expert, Rangewell, reveals that while investor appetite across the sector held steady in Q2, strong levels of owner-occupied commercial mortgage activity are helping drive market performance, as business owners increasingly move from renting to buying their long-term premises for…
Read More
Breaking News

One year of Labour: Property market performance review

Investors left waiting for planning reform and incentives but majority plan to increase real estate allocation   Biggest failures: Lack of incentives for developers and investors, and ineffective planning reform Top priorities: Planning reform, tax incentives, and attracting international capital Where opportunities lie: Data centres, warehousing & logistics, and later-life housing Real estate debt is…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Plumbing Red Flags Every Homebuyer Should Watch Out For

Buying a home is one of the most significant investments a person can make. While factors like location, square footage, and curb appeal often steal the spotlight, what’s hidden behind the walls is just as important—especially the plumbing. Overlooking plumbing issues during the home-buying process can lead to costly surprises down the road. That’s why…
Read More