With apologies to The Blow Monkeys for lifting the title of their debut album, (I love a music link), for some reason this phrase popped into my head when the latest quarterly GDP figures were released showing that we have just about limped out of recession.
The political soothsayers have been having a field day showing how we were the first into recession and the last out, and that the road ahead is going to be a frankly tortuous affair. Even Alistair Darling could not rule out the possibility of a dip back into the negative almost on the eve of the election.
There has been alot of press recently about the fact tracker rate products are more “popular” than fixed rates and whilst this is undoubtedly the case, could this be a big problem in the making?
It is of course no surprise that in recent times the popularity of the fixed rate product has waned as people come to terms with the financial environment. The “as cheap as possible please” line has been even more popular than usual as not only have many clients expected that Bank Base will stay low, but also that low tracker rates now are a shot in the arm to many, helping to keep the wolf from the door.
The problem with email is the bland way that it conveys your messages without actually conveying the smirk on your face as you write it, the cheeky little twinkle in your eye or the sarcasm you would have said it with. As a result, alot can be misread and some can take offence when nothing could have been further from the truth.
I guess that is why in much online writing and message boards many use the kind of annotation symbols I used to find rather annoying but have now embraced with glee, you know the ones; lol, 
:-0)* (no idea on the last one, but you get the idea).
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.
With fixed rates having risen in recent weeks and now looking a tad overpriced, especially for longer term fixes, tracker products are booming again due to headline rates with a “1” at the start.
Whilst HSBC have stolen all the headlines with their 1.99% lowest rate ever malarkey, (actually the lowest rate I remember was 0% for 6 months!), Woolwich have quietly taken up the fight and slipped in a stepped tracker product starting at 1.98% !
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.
