In the fall-out of any major, near catastrophic event, an autopsy is carried out and opinions fly as to why this happened and how we could guard against it in the future. The aftermath of the latest financial crises, is of course no exception.
So we have had to endure accusations and calls for various measures to be introduced ranging from the sensible, which should have been in place prior to the event, to the simply absurd and damaging.
One recent voice to enter the fray is Charlie Bean, a member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, (MPC).
The frustration felt by many individuals that banks still do not seem to be lending in sufficient quantities is still evident in the latest Lending To Individuals figures from the Bank of England, which explains the frustration felt by many would-be borrowers.
Just 47,643 loans were approved for house purchases and a mere 29,949 loans for remortgages meaning that both sets of figures have now dropped below their previous 6 months average.
First-time buyers have every right to feel discriminated against, as while mortgage lending has become more profitable for many lenders, it is too often targeted at those customers who are already well catered for. Lenders are continuing to walk the easy path.
Posted in Bank of England Lending Figures, Best Mortgage Rates, Coreco, First Time Buyers, House Prices, Mortgage Brokers in London, Property Market | Also tagged First Time Buyers, House Prices, Housing Market, London Mortgage Broker, Mortgage Market, Property Market |
For those of you who think times are more than a little tough at the moment, the news that there are still major fears about the strength of the European Banking System, is not really what you will want to hear.
However, this week sees the release of a major report involving the “stress-testing” on a range of European Banks to determine their health and, perhaps more importantly, whether they are in a position to cope if anything goes seriously wrong again. These “detailed” tests have been undertaken on 91 banks, including names such as Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank in Germany, HSBC and Barclays in the UK, as well as Societe Generale and BNP Paribas in France.
Posted in Coreco, Credit Crunch, Economic Recovery, Inflation, Interest Rates, Mortgage Market, The Economy | Also tagged Credit Crunch, Economy, House Prices, London Mortgage Broker, Mortgage Market, mortgage products |
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.
We all know of course that there was never going to be any changes this month in the Bank of England Base Rate, nor in the amount Quantitative Easing, but there are still some interesting forces at play.
There are still some who believe there should be a further cut next year with a further increase in Q.E., whilst others believe that inflationary pressures, especially in commodity prices amongst other things, may mean that we soon see inflation rising faster than expected, which in turn raises the spectre of increased rates quicker than expected! It remains to be seen which group will be shouting “house” first.
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.
