Its research showed that over-65s have gained £863m in property wealth over the last three months, as house prices have stabilised, amounting to £244 each.
However, this remains £17.5bn down since the start of the year – around £4,000 each.
Key Retirement Solutions found that a third of all property equity is owned by pensioners in London and the South East, with over-65s in the capital owning £126bn-worth of property without mortgages.
Dean Mirfin, group director at Key Retirement Solutions (pictured), said: “The over-65s own considerable property wealth which still represents a massive investment success as they no longer have mortgages and will in most cases have bought more than 25 years ago.
“The equity release market is seeing a rise in the number of plans sold with more pensioners opting for drawdown products which enable them to benefit from lower borrowing costs today, allowing for increased flexibility to access further funds over time as and when required.”
Meanwhile, the impact that equity release products may have on state benefits is the key area 77% of brokers want more information on from providers and trade bodies, according to research by Bridgewater Equity Release.
It said many brokers are still uncertain how a client’s eligibility for benefits could be affected by releasing equity from their property.
This was followed by wanting more information on marketing equity release services more effectively, adopting quality risk profiling for their potential equity release clients, technical information on home reversion plan products, and the legal process surrounding equity release and how best to prepare clients for this.
As such, Bridgewater is covering these issues in its upcoming Broker Forum events, alongside offering a series of sales aids and adviser checklists.
