Monty’s Mortgage Blog

Category Archives: First Time Buyers

HSBC – Stop It, My Sides Hurt…

By Andrew Montlake | Published: 18.10.11

Apparently, and, (said in the style of Theresa May), I am not making this up, HSBC have said that “HSBC accepts around nine in 10 of all customers who apply for a mortgage with the bank”.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, (stop it, ha, my, ha, sides hurt, ha).

Actually maybe that’s a little disingenuous, as to be fair at least they are giving the impression of supporting the average mortgage borrower and their rates have been consistently attractive. However, in making this comment whilst trying to put the proverbial boot in to mortgage brokers who they clearly see as an irritant, (who needs independent advice pah, advice is for wimps), they are opening themselves up to closer inspection.

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Stick or Let’s Twist Again

By Andrew Montlake | Published: 03.10.11

As politicians all over the world wonder how the hell they are going to get out of the mire that surrounds them, we are beginning to see options taken that are provoking a great deal of debate. The latest is the US’s Operation Twist.

First tried back in 1961 as an “experiment” whose results are still disputed, this involves the Fed selling short-term bonds and, here’s the twist, replacing them with longer term ones. The result is that as more long-term bonds are purchased interest rates should fall, (it’s a supply and demand thing, sort of).

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Also posted in Coreco, Economic Recovery, European Union, Interest Rates, Large Mortgage Loans, Mortgage Advice, Mortgage Blog, Mortgage Brokers in London, Mortgage Rates, Mortgages, Politics, Property Market, The Economy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Half A Glass…

By Andrew Montlake | Published: 02.09.11

At a time when negative headlines dominate the economic landscape it is hard not to notice that consumer confidence has taken a battering in recent weeks. Talk of a double-dip recession is on many economists’ lips and whether this is caused by a struggling manufacturing sector, a European crisis that is nowhere near over or issues in the US, China or whatever, the myriad of reasons being thrown up by all and sundry has almost become unimportant to the consumer.

In truth the average consumer still feels like nothing has really changed, the technicalities of a recession are unimportant, it is how they feel and for most, things still feel tight.

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Also posted in Bank Base Rate, Best Fixed Rates, Best Mortgage Rates, Building Societies, Coreco, Economic Recovery, Independent Mortgage Advice, Large Mortgage Loans, Mortgage Blog, Mortgage Brokers in London, Mortgage Market, Property Market, The Economy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

First-Time Buyers: Retreating or Returning?

By Andrew Montlake | Published: 15.08.11

First-Time Buyers have been in the news this week with a report from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, (CML), stating that last month saw a 10 month high in the numbers of first timers purchasing, although still down from this time last year.

This was contradicted by a Rightmove report that stated that First-Time numbers were dropping seriously, with only 23% of those looking to buy in the next 12 months being first timers, whilst 7 out of the 11 UK regions now in “first-time buyer blackspot” territory. The exception was of course London, which was still holding up.

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Also posted in Best Mortgage Rates, Coreco, Large Mortgage Loans, Mortgage Blog, Mortgage Brokers in London, Mortgage Rates | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Weekly Mortgage Market Update

By Andrew Montlake | Published: 03.05.11

Not much to report after a slow news week driven by two long bank holidays; apparently a celebrity couple got hitched and some bloke got knocked off by the Americans but I think that was it.

First-Time buyers have been in the news as ever with further reports of the difficulties faced with getting onto the property ladder. In fact, as our own research suggests, the average deposit now stands at £54,923 and a whopping £138,624 in London, property ownership  may seem to be becoming the preserve of the “haves” rather than the “have nots”.

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Also posted in Bank Base Rate, Best Mortgage Rates, Coreco, Independent Mortgage Advice, Large Mortgage Loans, Mortgage Brokers in London, Mortgage Market | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment