Aug/090
Halifax: UK house prices on the increase
According to one of the UK’s largest mortgage lenders, house prices are now rising at a constant rate adding weight to the arguement that the housing market is undergoing a recovery. Halifax, conducted a survey of all their properties and results showed a 1.1% increase in July alone meaning the average price of a house has increased to £159,623.
Increases in average house prices have been hard to come by since October 2007 when the last quarterly increase took place. However, in the 3 months prior to July house price had already increased by 0.8% on the previous quarter.
It is one thing being told this by estate agents and mortgage lenders, but when large private housebuilders make similar claims we should take notice. Taylor Wimpey said it was seeing signs of a turnaround, with its sales rising in the first six months of the year. A company statement read: “there are signs that the situation is beginning to improve.”
Jul/090
Direct Mortgages - The best on the UK market
Mortgage brokers have been dealt a major as The Times Online report that 2 thirds of the mortgages on the market are available through the lender only and the previously commonplace practice of your mortgage broker contacting the lender on your behalf to negotiate a deal could soon be dead in the water. As if this news wasn’t bad enough, many of the deals are actually at a marginally better rate - especially if the consumer visits their branch to arrange it.
The statistics behind this story reflect a gloomy forecast for mortgage brokers. Last year over 70% of mortgages were only available through a broker but clearly the credit crunch has had a huge impact on the banking system and ideas and recommendations that would otherwise have taken years to come to fruition have now become the way of life.
Another reason why banks are doing this is to get a grip on the flow of mortgages being dealt out. They also believe that they can get a better feel over whether handing a mortgage to a consumer is a good idea.
Statistics from Moneyfacts.co.uk
Story from: The Times Online
Jun/090
Less Remortgages, More Repossessions
Homeowners whose mortgages run out over the next 12 months are going to struggle to remortgage due to lenders increasing the cost of borrowing. Higher interest rates are to be passed on to standard variable rates which in turn will increase, as will the number of repossessions. Consumers paying £576 a month could soon be paying over £1000 per month. And as the prospect of redundancies and unemployment rise, lenders are tightening their criteria.
Over a million consumers have a home loan worth more than the value of their home, and these are more likely to face repossession as the number of available deals is reduced increasing the price of remortgages. Those consumers who have missed payments on their mortgage also face a reduced number of deals available to them as lenders look more to financial and employment history. Steps can be taken to put you in a better position such as cancelling credit cards that don’t get used, overpaying on your mortgage and reducing unsecured debt.
Jun/090
HSBC to Give Homeowners Low Mortgage Rates
HSBC is giving homeowners the chance of low mortgage rates by matching the low standard variable rates of other banks and offering to fix those low rates for 5 years, and are hoping this will encourage more people to remortgage. This is only available to home owners with at least 25pc equity in their home and will be available for a limited period. Some consumers will be charged £4,699 to fix their rate.
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