Mortgages
FeedHouse prices fall for second month in a row
Christina Jordan
Sep 2nd 2010
Filed under: Financial Crisis, Mortgages, News , Property
With Nationwide now recording the second monthly fall in average property prices on the bounce, is a decline in the value of our homes now inevitable?Or is it too soon to call a double dip in the property market?
House prices rise '£91 a day'
Press Association
Sep 1st 2010
Filed under: Mortgages, Property
Homeowners with family properties have seen the value of their houses rise by around £91 a day during the past year, research has indicated.The value of detached homes increased by 13% during the year to the end of June, to stand at an average of £299,295, according to Halifax.
UK lending continues to deteriorate
Adrian Holliday
Aug 31st 2010
Filed under: Debt, Economy, Mortgages, News , Banking
UK lending remains mired in trouble. Total net UK lending fell off a cliff in July, plummeting to just £86m compared to £518m in June, according to new Bank of England figures. The new credit data is amongst the worst ever recorded since records began in 1993.Top tips on taking out a mortgage
Money Expert
Aug 30th 2010
Filed under: Mortgages
Taking out a mortgage is essentially the same as taking out a long term loan.And just like a long-term loan you are committed to repaying it back, plus, as it is probably the biggest loan most people are likely to ever take out, it is worth doing thorough research before committing to anything.
Bank may impose tougher constraints
Press Association
Aug 30th 2010
Filed under: Mortgages, Property
The Bank of England could step in to impose tougher constraints on home buyers to prevent future unsustainable credit bubbles, a senior official has warned.Charles Bean, the Bank's deputy governor, suggested in a paper presented over the weekend that measures may be introduced to stop people taking out risky home loans.
Mortgage lending continues decline
Press Association
Aug 24th 2010
Filed under: Mortgages
Mortgage approvals were down during July while lending by the major banks fell to its second-lowest level since February 2001, the British Bankers' Association has reported.Omitting redemptions and payments, the value of mortgages lent totalled £1.95 billion for the month.
Is buy-to-let worth it any more?
Christina Jordan
Aug 24th 2010
Filed under: Budget 2010, Mortgages, News , Property
The buy-to-let market was battered by the credit crunch but there has been a renewed confidence in the sector this year, with new lenders entering the market and rising tenant demand.However, two pieces of research now suggest that landlords' confidence is falling, as tax hikes and house price drops weigh heavy on them.
Are we writing off the housing market too soon?
Christina Jordan
Aug 19th 2010
Filed under: Economy, Financial Crisis, Mortgages, News , Property
Talk of falling house prices and a double dip has blighted the housing and mortgage markets for the last month. But while new figures out today suggest that things may not be as bad as the doom-mongers have been telling us, not everyone is feeling confident.
Mortgage applications increase
Money Expert
Aug 13th 2010
Filed under: Mortgages
The Co-operative Bank and Britannia have seen a 31% increase in mortgage applications in the first half of the year, as the housing market shows signs of recovery. But what does this mean for those looking to make mortgage applications?The figures also show a 13% increase in the proportion of customers who are remortgaging, suggesting people are taking advantage of the historically low mortgage rates.
Confusion reigns on house prices
Money Expert
Aug 12th 2010
Filed under: Mortgages, Property
The latest research into the housing market suggests that house prices fell in July, the first time in a year. So which way for house prices in 2010?Surveyors at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) reported the lowest house price reading in more than a year, with 8% more surveyors citing the fall in house prices due to uncertainty among potential buyers regarding the economy and increasing difficulty of securing a mortgage.
Interest rates locked low at 0.5%
Christina Jordan
Aug 5th 2010
Filed under: Personal Finance, Mortgages, Savings and Accounts, News
This is the 17th month that interest rates have been locked at this record low, to the delight of many mortgage holders and the misery of the nation's savers. But is a rate rise on the cards soon?
Women are becoming property tycoons
Helen Fowler
Aug 4th 2010
Filed under: Mortgages, Property, Media
Blame it on Sarah Beeny's Property Ladder: it's time to say hello to the female property tycoon. Egged on by Beeny's example, more women are looking to make their fortune from donning a hard hat and gambling on bricks and mortar. In less than a year numbers of women buying properties they plan to rent out have risen dramatically, going from just over a third of the total to nearly half.
Pick of the early market news
Helen Fowler
Aug 4th 2010
Filed under: Company, Economy, Personal Finance, Loans, Mortgages, News , Banking
Lloyds Bank surprised analysts with the strength of its return to the black, reporting pre-tax profits of £1.6 billion, compared to a loss of more than twice that amount last year. Lloyds' success could benefit UK taxpayers, who own 41% of the high street banking giant. It could also mean pressure to increase its lending targets.
First-time buyers fall off property ladder
Helen Fowler
Aug 4th 2010
Filed under: Mortgages, News , Property
It's becoming even harder for first-time buyers to get onto the property ladder. Banks are insisting on larger deposits, meaning many young people cannot afford their own home."First-timers simply cannot secure the mortgages needed to get a foot on the property ladder," said Ross Bowen of Connells, a firm of surveyors.
Savers bail on Northern Rock
Helen Fowler
Aug 3rd 2010
Filed under: Economy, Markets, Personal Finance, Financial Crisis, Loans, Mortgages, Savings and Accounts, News , Banking
Savers have pulled out almost £2bn from Northern Rock - a result of the government stopping its 100% guarantee for deposits. Since late May, the government has backed only the first £50,000 of each customer's savings, standard practice across all UK banks. Are customers right to be so jittery?
