Thanks to Prince for the title of this piece, but finally our new website is up and running, subject to the usual teething problems of course. Now I guess the hard work really begins. The fact that I am free from all constraints, not that it actually stopped me writing what I thought anyway; means maybe I can be even more honest!
During the “down time” I have been getting to grips with the technology front even more and really understanding how great something like Twitter is. You can follow me at montysblog, short, sharp and to the point.
Billed as the make or break budget, the one which would define Brown & Darlings tenancy of Number 10 and 11, the question is did they deliver?
The backdrop to this quintessential speech is an economy where different polls, reports and stats look like they are saying different things. We all know about the bad news, but there have also been some tentative signs of improvement recently.
Only today we saw figures from the CML that showed a further bounce in mortgage lending, joining a growing consensus that the worst of the housing crisis may now be behind us. On the surface these latest figures appear to support this theory.
Leaving aside the fact that around 83% of stats are made up on the spot, there have been some interesting stats bandied around in the last couple of days that are worth looking at.
First of all the Q4 2008 housing equity withdrawal statistics issued by the Bank of England show that after mutating into a cash machine for a number of years, an Englishman’s home is once again his castle.
Today saw some important figures released by the Bank of England with regards to Mortgage Lending to individuals.
The key statement is that “The number of loans approved for house purchase (37,937) was higher than in January and the previous six-month average”.
This is a bigger rise than anticipated, in fact almost 20% more than the January stats. Following on from the British Bankers’ Association figures published last week, this latest rise in mortgage approvals is an encouraging sign for the housing market.
Because mortgage approvals happen ahead of property transactions, these figures lend credence to the claim that the bottom of the property market is fast approaching.
Hello again all. It seems like ages ago since I last put pen to paper, or rather finger to keyboard, but in reality it has only been a couple of weeks. In this case, a couple of weeks seems like a lifetime and much has changed as many of you will be aware, not least a bereavement and a birth!
Watching TV the other night I happened to catch a really good programme called Darwin’s’ Dangerous Idea, where Andrew Marr was talking about how scientists following Darwin’s ideas identified the threats to the environment caused by mankind. One quote in particular struck a chord, it was something like, “death is a terrible thing, but the end of birth is an absolute disaster”!
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.
