Will house prices rise or fall?
October 6, 2008
A huge number of industry officials and agencies have been predicting since last year that since the housing bubble burst house prices would continue to fall for the next couple of years in the UK. Some officials have predicted that house prices could plummet over the next couple of years, with a number... more
Northern Rock borrowers running into financial problems
October 5, 2008
Recent research has suggested that Northern Rock mortgage customers may be running into financial problems at a far faster pace than other borrowers, with repossession figures showing that a large proportion of homeowners that have been losing their homes are Northern Rock borrowers. The research was... more
Is it worth waiting to save money on stamp duty?
October 5, 2008
Affordability for first time buyers looking to get onto the property ladder has continued to dwindle over recent months despite the fact that house prices have been falling month on month and are now said to be at their lowest since August 2006. When house prices started falling many thought that this... more
Cut out the middle man and sell your home online
October 4, 2008
People buy all sorts of things online these days, from holidays and cars to entertainment and groceries. According to one recent report some people also look for a new home online, and the struggling homeowners that are looking to sell their properties but are experiencing financial issues could save... more
Buyers could be encouraged through stamp duty suspension
October 3, 2008
Many people cannot remember the last time things looked so bleak for the housing market, with property sales having plummeted and estate agents selling an average one property a week or less. With a range of factors affecting the ability of consumers to make a purchase, the housing market has all but... more
Credit unions performing well in the wake of the credit crunch
October 2, 2008
Over the past twelve months, since the onset of the global credit crunch, many people have become distrustful of banks, and many others have found that they no longer have access to some of the services that banks offer, such as loans and other forms of finance. According to a recent report this trend... more
Lenders cut rates but only well off will benefit from them
October 1, 2008
Over recent weeks a number of lenders have reduced the interest rates on some of their mortgage products, and this has been the result of a drop in swap rates, which are indicative of mortgage interest rates as they are the rates at which lenders lend to one another. With swap rates having fallen a number... more
London sellers dropping asking prices
September 29, 2008
According to a recent report many property owners in the London area are being forced to drop their asking properties when selling their homes as a result of the slowdown in the housing market. With estate agents reportedly selling less than one property per week on average many homeowners have found... more
Abbey cuts its mortgage rates
September 28, 2008
Mortgage lending giant Abbey, the High Street bank that is Spanish owned, has recently cut the interest rates on some of its mortgage products. Like a number of other lenders Abbey has been able to reduce mortgage interest rates due to a recent fall in swap rates, which is the rate at which banks lend... more
Will house prices go back up again?
September 26, 2008
Over recent months the financial headlines have been filled with stories about falling house prices, and many industry officials have been making one gloomy prediction after another in relation to how quickly and by how much house prices are likely to continue falling over the next year or two, with... more
Should you go direct to lender or through an intermediary for your mortgage?
September 25, 2008
These days getting a mortgage can be really difficult, and the global credit crunch has impacted heavily on the mortgage sector heavily, leaving consumers with little choice when it comes to finding a mortgage and resulting in lenders really tightening up on their lending criteria. Whilst the base rate... more
Some homeowners could face 40% hikes in repayments
September 24, 2008
A worrying report has shown how some homeowners in the UK who are due to come to the end of special cheap mortgage deals, such as cheap fixed rate mortgages, could face hikes of up to 40% when it comes to their mortgage repayments, which could mean an increase of hundreds of pounds a month for some.... more
Repossession levels have rocketed
September 23, 2008
There has been a huge jump in the level of repossessions in the UK since the start of this year, according to a recent report. Since January of this year repossession levels have jumped by 41%. There are a number of reasons why many homeowners may have fallen so far behind with their mortgage repayments,... more
Income and outgoings set to cause consumers problems
September 22, 2008
The governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, has recently highlighted how below inflation wage rises coupled with soaring food, petrol, and living costs are set to cause many households severe problems over the foreseeable future. Mr King warned households in a recent speech to brace themselves... more
How to ease the financial strain at home
September 20, 2008
The global credit crunch, tighter credit conditions, rising bills, and soaring living costs have all taken their toll on household finances, and many consumers have found that it has become increasingly difficult to cope with their finances, with many finding that their income is way less than their... more
Nationwide cuts interest rates for some borrowers
September 20, 2008
Consumers in the UK have been relieved to see that a number of lenders have reduced the interest rates on their mortgage products slightly after swap rates, which are indicative of mortgage interest rates, fell slightly. Nationwide is one of the lenders that has cut its mortgage interest rate slightly.... more
FSA calls for action over mortgage fraud
September 19, 2008
The UK’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Authority, is called for increased action to combat the problem with mortgage fraud, which seems to have risen since the onset of the global credit crunch, which has resulted in tighter credit conditions and lack of availability when it comes... more
Falsified mortgage applications result in broker being banned
September 18, 2008
According to a recent report another broker has been both banned and fined by the UK’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Authority, as a result of falsifying mortgage applications in order to get mortgage loans pushed through. The FSA has been really cracking down on this sort of activity,... more
Borrowers offered money from lender to redeem their loans
September 18, 2008
Hundreds of borrowers who have taken their mortgages from the sub-prime lender, Edeus, which was set up a couple of years ago, are being offered money from the lender in exchange for redeeming their mortgage loans. Many banks have been suffering huge financial difficulties over recent months as a result... more
July saw biggest house price fall on record
September 17, 2008
According to recent reports from a leading lender the month of July saw the biggest annual house price drop since records began, which was in 1991. House prices for the month fell by 1.7%, which took the annual fall to 8.1%. This comes from figures from the Nationwide. House prices have been falling... more