As with many things in life, it is good to get a range of views on, well just about everything really, so to this end I am welcoming some guest bloggers to this spot every month so if you want to apply just drop me a line. To kick us off I’ll hand over to our MD Matt Lowndes…
“So last night, along with what seemed every other person I know, I decided to sit down at 8 o’clock and watch the Ask The Chancellors debate on Channel 4. I was even twittering and following the debate online – yes my wife does think I’m mad.
The number of loans for house purchase in February is lower than expected although given the growing sense of foreboding surrounding the big, post-Election tax rises around the corner it is understandable that people are putting the big decisions in their lives on hold.
With the General Election looming these figures suggest that property purchases will continue to tail off until a new government is firmly in place and people know who, and what, they are dealing with.
While we may see a slight uplift due to stamp duty changes for first time buyers and people buying property above £1m wanting to move before the year is out, this is unlikely to occur until after the next Budget.
As I sat watching the Chancellor yesterday on TV, headphones on listening to the radio coverage to drown out the howls of derision hurled at the screen by some of my colleagues, something interesting happened.
It wasn’t the fact that the Labour front bench had made a fashion statement in purple rather than traditional red, nor was it that I started to nod off during a speech that was long on politicism and short on content. Actually it was the sudden realisation that maybe I have finally fallen out of love with politics, something I have always been passionate about.
How exciting! Today is the last budget before the long-awaited General Election and hands up who is not excited by the prospect of hanging on our Chancellors’ every word?
Ok, a little bit of sarcasm there, but whilst Mr Darling has stated that it will be a “workmanlike” budget, it could actually be one of his most interesting ones. It is certainly the toughest one he has had to give and getting the balance right will be incredibly tough. On one hand he has to show they can be tough on reducing our ridiculous deficit whilst not snuffing out signs of recovery and, on the other, election sweet talking.
Posted in The Budget | Tagged The Budget |
In January, mortgage borrowing and housing transactions generally fell off a cliff given the sub-zero weather conditions and the end of the stamp duty holiday in December, so February’s slight uptick isn’t too much of a surprise.
Looking forward, we’re not expecting borrowing levels to accelerate significantly in the run-up to the General Election, and they may even fall back slightly post-Election.
Come the second half of the year we’ll know far more about how the mortgage and residential property markets are likely to fare in the short term.
Andrew Montlake, Communications Director at Coreco and ‘Mortgage Personality of the Year 2008’, gives his views — honest and no holds barred — on the latest developments within the mortgage and property markets.
