We are all aware of the continuing mortgage and property dilemma that the United Kingdom is currently up against and it is certainly no news that the dreaded credit crunch is starting to constrict it's already tightened grip on the general public's purse strings, but have there been any recent advancements that we can all turn our attention to and make the wait for change a little more bearable?
Unfortunately the short and straight answer is no. However, we can at least seek some comfort in the fact that a very similar “crunch” affected the whole of Britain in the late 1980's and 1990's. We managed to recover from that period and the market did nothing but improve until we have come across a complete mirror of the situation again. Experts has stated that they are completely confident that the situation will improve before too long, but it is certainly not going to be fun while we have to wait.
Within the dark cloud that hovers over the United Kingdom's property market at the moments is this weeks news that mortgage lending from the countries leading banks to those looking to purchase a home has fallen to it's lowest number since records began.
Further bad news has been received this week by those who have taken out 100% mortgages that will be coming to an end shortly. It has been reported that over 23,000 people will be paying into negative equity for their home. The falling house prices mean that the amount that they borrowed originally is greater than the current value of their property.
It has been estimated by the HBOS, the largest mortgage lender in the United Kingdom, that the values of homes in the whole of Britain will fall a minimum of a further 9% during the remainder of 2008, in addition to the current decline of 4% the year has suffered so far.
With these percentages eroding away at house value, they are stacking up against those saving up for a deposit on their first home. The majority of lenders are now making a deposit compulsory, and the latest reports showed they where at 13% of the house value – the highest amount for more than three years.
So if you are one of the many suffering the poor market, things seem to unfortunately be set to worsen before they improve. We can only hope that the transition is closer around the corner than we think.
