Recent data has shown that landlords in the UK found it easier to find tenants in the last quarter of year 2007 compared to the third quarter of the year, reflecting the increased demand for rental properties amongst consumers that have now been priced out of the market altogether when it comes to purchasing a property. Tight credit conditions, high interest rates, soaring property prices, and the effects of the credit crunch. Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 7% [?]
Most of us are well aware that the UK is experiencing a housing slump that has been likened to that seen in the darker days of the early 1990s. Homeowners that are trying to sell their homes are experiencing real difficulties at the moment for a number of reasons. One of the major factors affecting house sales is the lack of mortgages and tight credit conditions in play, which are stopping those interested in buying from getting a suitable mortgage. Another major factor is the fact that house prices are rapidly falling, and many would be buyers are now too nervous to take the plunge in case house prices fall further once they have made the purchase. Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 9% [?]
For a number of months now there has been widespread speculation with regards to property values in the UK, with many experts predicting that house prices – although unlikely to crash – are set to fall over coming months. Data from a series of surveys and studies has backed up these predictions, and the past few weeks have already seen a weakening housing market with falling property prices. Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 14% [?]
Financial experts are highlighting the importance of keeping a check on finances to those that are planning to buy a property in the near future. According to some experts potential home buyers that are planning to purchase a property within the next year or so need to start getting their finances into order as soon as possible, particularly in light of the mortgage situation in the United States, which has now started to take its toll in the UK. This situation has made if extremely difficult for those with tarnished credit to get a mortgage at affordable interest rates, and could impact heavily on accessibility to sub-prime mortgages in the future. Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 65% [?]
Over the past year the popularity of fixed rate mortgage has been rising, and this has been largely due to a series of five interest rate rises that have taken place since August 2006. With each of these interest rate rises more and more homeowners and first time buyers were panicking over how they would keep up with their rising mortgage repayments. For many, taking out or remortgaging to a fixed rate deal was the most effective solution, as this meant that they would no longer have to cope with the effects of further interest rate rises. Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 77% [?]
One of the leading building societies in the UK, the Nationwide, has answered the calls of new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, by introducing a new 25 year fixed rate mortgage in order to try and make home ownership and stable repayments more of a possibility for consumers in the UK. Mr Darling recently announced that one of the things that he was aiming for in light of the current housing situation with regards affordability was for more longer term fixed rate mortgages to be available. Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 68% [?]
The Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling has been pushing for lenders to increase the number of longer term fixed rate mortgage deals on offer since he came into office as the chancellor. The series of recent interest rate rises have had a serious impact on affordability for first time buyers and existing homeowners on variable rate mortgages, and the level of repossessions in the UK has rocketed over the first half of this year, as many struggle to keep on top of rising repayments. Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 69% [?]
According to recent reports house prices in the UK have fallen for the first time in a two year period. Many experts believe that the housing market is softening as a result of lack of affordability and other issues. According to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors from June to August of this year the house price index showed its first negative reading since October 2005. Affordability in the housing market has become major issue over recent months, with a number of factors affecting both consumer confidence and affordability. Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 58% [?]
In the past many people in the UK steered clear of renting property, as most classed renting as dead money and preferred to put their monthly repayments towards the investment value of purchasing a property, since the difference between paying a mortgage and paying rent was minimal. However, over recent years the cost of purchasing a property in the UK, coupled with increased interest rates, has seen the monthly repayment on a mortgage by far exceed the monthly repayments on paying rent. Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 62% [?]
According to recent reports the UK continues to see rising repossession levels after millions of homeowners with variable rate mortgages were left struggling to repay their mortgage following a series of interest rate rises over the past year. The base rate has gone up five times since last August, and has resulted in the base rate shooting up from 4.5% to 5.75% after five rises of 0.25% each. For homeowners with variable rate mortgage this has meant a massive overall rise in repayments. Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 73% [?]