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 Bank of England, First Time Buyers, House Prices, Housing Market, London Mortgage Broker, 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 Bank of England, Credit Crunch, Economy, House Prices, London Mortgage Broker, mortgage products |
Here at Coreco Towers we have been enjoying the exploits of our “semi-official” world cup team. Never mind dismal England, what about the pride of New Zealand? Chosen before the competition in part because of our unhealthy obsession with the brilliant Flight of the Conchords and part because our corporate colours match, yesterdays heroics just shows what smaller teams / companies can achieve against the so called “big boys”.
The number of loans for house purchase in February is lower than expected although given the growing sense of foreboding surrounding the big, post-Election tax rises around the corner it is understandable that people are putting the big decisions in their lives on hold.
With the General Election looming these figures suggest that property purchases will continue to tail off until a new government is firmly in place and people know who, and what, they are dealing with.
While we may see a slight uplift due to stamp duty changes for first time buyers and people buying property above £1m wanting to move before the year is out, this is unlikely to occur until after the next Budget.
January has never been a particularly strong month for mortgage data and this year the drop has been exacerbated by the stamp duty holiday that ended in December and last month’s dire weather.
However, activity picked up towards the end of January and into February so we expect to see stronger figures from February on until they begin to tail off again in the second half of the year.
January’s figures shouldn’t dampen the spirits as the mortgage market has got off to a flyer compared to this time last year, with hundreds of new products hitting the market and enquiry levels rising dramatically.
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.
