Emma Lunn, Tuesday July 01, 2008
The housing market has hit a virtual standstill. The number of mortgages approved for homebuyers has dropped by two-thirds - and those home loans left on the market are rocketing in price. Yet you can still make your dream home a reality - if you think laterally. We show you five alternative ways to buy a property
The ongoing mayhem in the mortgage market has continued this week with mortgage lending slumping
to the lowest level in a decade and lenders upping rates and withdrawing products.
Figures from the Bank of England released this week show that just 42,000 mortgages were
approved for home purchases in May - and massive 64% annual drop and the lowest level since
comparable records began in 1993.Commenting on the figures, industry experts predicted that prices
would fall by more than 25% by 2009 as it becomes harder to get a mortgage.
Disappearing deals
The end of last week saw Bristol & West, the British mortgage arm of the Bank of Ireland,
pull almost a quarter of its mortgage products a day after it launched a new range of deals. First
Direct added to the mayhem by raising the cost of its best buy two-year fixed mortgage from 5.49 to
5.99%. Other lenders are pulling products or increasing rates on almost a daily basis.
Find the
right mortgage for your needs
But falling prices can be good news for potential buyers and current market conditions mean
there are several ways buyers can pick up a bargain. We show you how it’s done.
