Long Term Forecasts for UK Housing Market

The housing market is facing acute short term difficulties. In particular:Drop of mortgage lending (there has been 45% fall since this time last year) has caused a big fall in demand for housing. It means that potential homeowners, especially first time buyers are finding it very difficult to get a mortgage. If this freezing [...]

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[Source: Finance Blog]

Ten Tips To Get A Better Credit Rating Score

A good credit rating is vital to being able to access loans and mortgages. The importance of a good credit rating is even more important now that the credit crunch has made lenders suspicious of people with bad credit histories. These are some tips on improving your Credit Rating1. Check Your Credit Rating.It is important [...]

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[Source: Finance Blog]

Surviving a House Price Crash.

Falling house prices certainly create no shortage of newspaper headlines. Although some of these headlines can sound unnecessarily apocalyptic, falling house prices are not quite the end of the world. In fact falling house prices can be of benefit to some people.Who Benefits from Falling House prices?First time buyers. At the moment the ratio of [...]

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[Source: Finance Blog]

Getting Bank Charges Refunds

In a decision by the high court yesterday, the decision to cap bank charges was upheld by the High Court. Seven Banks and one building society had taken the Office of Fair Trading to Court; they argued the OFT did not have the right to impose caps on bank charges. However, the High court found [...]

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[Source: Finance Blog]

What Causes House Prices to Rise and Fall?

I wrote a lengthy summary of the main factors that affect house prices here.In the UK, the supply of housing is fairly inelastic; this means it is unresponsive to changing prices. The number of houses being built is relatively low, therefore, supply increases only slowly. This means that changes in demand for houses will be [...]

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[Source: Finance Blog]

Bail Out for Mortgage Industry

The Bank of England announced plans to inject extra liquidity into the troubled mortgage sector.The government and Bank of England have been concerned about how the level of mortgages has dried up since the start of the subprime crisis.The scheme allows big banks like Natwest, HSBC, Halifax and others to exchange mortgage securities for government [...]

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[Source: Finance Blog]

Predictions for House Prices UK

Last March, saw house prices fall in UK by some of their biggest % levels for many years. April and March are traditionally a good time of the year for selling a house, but, the credit crisis has changed the nature of the housing market and prices look set to fall by 10-15%.Of all the [...]

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[Source: Finance Blog]

Losing Money Through Customer Loyalty

There is a lot to be said for loyalty. Loyalty to friends, even loyalty to your boss; but, when it comes to loyalty to companies selling you goods and services you face the prospect of losing a lot of money. Companies are keen to retain our loyalty because they know it is the loyal [...]

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[Source: Finance Blog]

Can I Still Get A Mortgage?

Problems related to the credit crisis have led many banks and building societies to withdraw many mortgage products. Furthermore, the Council of Mortgage Lenders CML, say problems in the mortgage industry may get worse before they get better. However, despite the difficulties of getting a mortgage, it still is possible for those who are dedicated [...]

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[Source: Finance Blog]

Fears Over House Prices

Recent data suggested the pace of house price falls have accelerated in the UK. Many analysts now suggest that house prices may fall by upto 25% within the next 12 months.How Much will House prices Fall By?Halifax predicts a moderate house price fall of 5 -10%. The reasons for a moderate house price fall are:Unlike [...]

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[Source: Finance Blog]

Problems in the Mortgage Markets

There are worrying signs that the problems in the mortgage sector continue to worsen. These are some of the major problems facing the mortgage industry at the moment.Shortgage of funds on the money markets. This is the biggest problem facing mortgage lenders. Most lenders do not fund mortgages just out of savings account. They fund [...]

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[Source: Finance Blog]

How To Haggle and Pay a Lower Price

I have to admit the idea of haggling for a lower price doesn’t come easy. I have inherited a certain reserve often found in English people. But, haggling can save a lot of money, and there’s no reason why the big multinational company deserve the money more than you. Although haggling can involve a little [...]

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[Source: Finance Blog]

House Prices Could Decline 25%

Ed Stanford, a property economist at Capital Economics said it was entirely plausible that house prices in the UK could fall by 25% in the next couple of years. He argued that a combination of factors threatened to bring prices substantially lowerShortage of Mortgage lending - Recenly many lenders have withdrawn cheap 2 year fixed [...]

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[Source: Finance Blog]