Let’s be honest, I am sure no-one expected to see that the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee, (MPC), had suddenly raised rates from their current 0.5% level, although some commentators have been a little jittery with inflation nudging 3%.
What is more interesting is that not only have the MPC decided to take a pause in their campaign of Quantitative Easing, £200 billion seems to have been enough of a spending spree for now at least, but you could argue that Bank Base has now entered a new phase – I call it “the expectation phase”. This is where many people expect a change but are not quite sure when and it is this expectation that can be a driver for all manner of decisions.
As I trudged cautiously through the deep snow in freezing Hertfordshire it warmed the cockles of my heart to think of the New Year ahead and wonder what opportunities will present themselves.
A return of competition to the mortgage market, a rise in interest rates, further property price increases, the return of first-time buyers, a new Government, a world cup win? There are many questions to ponder.
So the silly season seems to have crept up on us and all of a sudden another year has almost flown by. It’s been a funny old year really, tough for most, with a lot of anger and frustration directed at our “leaders”. The Iraq War enquiry is in full swing, strike news abounds, war has been declared on everyone from MP’s and bankers to company directors, (see BA and Consignia for further details), and especially dear old Simon Cowell.
At the moment I am sitting in Houston Texas where they have just experienced something extremely unusual, a snowstorm. There were alot of very excited people yesterday taking pictures and the TV dubbed it “Blizzard 2009″ with almost blanket coverage. Today, though things have calmed down and I have been trying to make sense of what the rest of the news is all about.
Talk on the economy has really been dwarfed this week by, of all things, and as our waitress this morning so eloquently put it, by Tiger bloody Woods. Seriously, it is wall to wall coverage now the blizzard is done.
Forgive me people for I have sinned! It has been far too long since my last confession, sorry, I mean blog post! In the meantime I have been through quite a bit, what with turning 40 yesterday (I know I don’t look it), and experiencing the general ups and downs of life and the mortgage industry, (more in a separate posting).
I have been paying alot of attention to the mortgage and financial press as you would expect, reading with both amusement, hearty agreement and utter despair some of the comments with regards to FSA regulation, self-certification, the behaviour of lenders and brokers, the proposed breakup up of some of our much maligned banking institutions, whilst also watching the pleasing plethora of new rates flooding the market.
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.
