Mortgage market is in good health

The UK mortgage market would benefit from increased confidence and is not looking as shaky as some people would make out.

That is according to the Intermediaries Mortgages Lenders Association (IMLA), which says that some fears over the state of the sector are unfounded.

Many analysts have predicted that the market is set to collapse following the credit crunch which came about as a result of problems in the US sub-prime mortgage sector.

However, Peter Williams executive director of IMLA, said that the UK market is in much better health than its US counterpart was.

"Across the board arrears and possessions remain very low. Latest CML [Council of Mortgage Lenders] data showed just 1.06 per cent of mortgages more than three months in arrears and 0.12 per cent of properties taken into possession – tiny figures in relation to the more than 11.8 million mortgages in this country," he revealed."

"We are definitely not seeing widespread delinquency among borrowers, as happened in the 1990s. While house price inflation is falling and that pattern will run through into 2008, the simple reality is that, in aggregate, demand continues to exceed supply," added Mr Williams.

Rightmove revealed this month that house prices increased by 2.7 per cent in October, following a 2.6 per cent slump in September.

Related Articles