The Credit Crunch Hits UK
12 Feb, 2008 | General | adminMany analysts have seen this coming, to them it was a question of time, but for many individuals it has been a huge shock. Already the UK had a volatile property market, many people locked into medium-term low interest rate deals expiring in 2008, at one time planning to remortgage onto a new interest rate. But, the credit crunch arrived, and with it most lenders withdrew their low cost products. Worse still, new lending guidelines were introduced, anyone with a hint of bad credit is excluded from most mortgage deals.
So what does this mean? No longer can sellers expect quick house sales, and the likelihood is a potential meltdown of the UK property market, if mortgage lending availability does not increase, quite simply, the number of repossessions will be far higher than anyone predicted 3 months ago.
Some analysts are predicting that UK property prices will fall by up to 30% in the next 2 years, to many this is an extreme view, but there is a consensus starting to build suggesting that falls of up to 20% over the next 2 years is looking probable. Of course there will be regional variations, but one thing for sure, if you have a property that’s normally slow to sell, hold on tight, you are in for a very bumpy ride.
For those who are unable to meet ongoing mortgage payments there are some options available, one is to sell and then rent back their property. Companies such as RepayMortgage specialise in quick house sales by providing access to private property investors.
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