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.
Acouple of things have caught my eye this week in terms of mortgage lending institutions. First of all we have the British Banking Association, (BBA), defending the large gaps between LIBOR rates and the product pricing we are seeing, and we also have a Which report on what 2000 of their members say are the best and worst mortgage lenders.
As far as 3 month LIBOR is concerned this was always the reason that lenders used for not lending during the height of the credit crunch when it was artificially high. Now, according to Moneyfacts, “Three-month Libor is at 0.55 per cent, while the average two-year tracker rate is 3.76 per cent. Two-year swaps, which lenders use to fund fixed-rate mortgages, are at 1.84 per cent, compared with the average two-year fixed-rate deal at 5.13 per cent”.
Like many people I was glued to the telly watching Monty’s glorious stubborn stand against the Aussies together with an inspired Anderson. Talk about a lesson in standing firm in the midst of tough times, this was classic Ashes and left me bounding into work the next day determined to see off whatever is bowled at me.
What it does go to show is that being adaptable and having the guts and determination to stand firm goes along way. Like many of us out there, I have had my fill of being bullied and put into situations not of my own making, having to stick up for people or things I don’t believe in. Don’t get me wrong, I have always been outspoken, but tried to do it behind closed doors, well at least until some things went a bit too far!
One story in particular that caught my eye this week in the industry press was the report that members of Legal & Generals Mortgage Club have “voted overwhelmingly against the use of dual pricing by lenders.” This is all very well, but isn’t it a bit like Turkeys voting against Christmas? (As one of our office wags put it).
If there is one subject that guarantees to raise blood boiling levels for brokers and lenders alike it is the subject of dual pricing. This type of pricing is nothing new, it has been around for years, although mainly it had been in the brokers favour.
Sometimes, when sitting down to write these blogs, there is a news item which you feel makes much of what you planned to write seem pretty insignificant. The news that is filtering through from social media sites such as Twitter from Iran puts much into perspective.
Whilst we all battle with the mundane tasks of trying to earn a decent living, others are battling for basic human rights.
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.
