31/7/09 - The Government Open Market Homebuy scheme funding for 2009/10 has now been allocated. Eligible beneficiaries were able to take out a mortgage to fund part of their property purchase and a low-interest equity loan to cover the rest. Claiming to have assisted 6,000 households in 2008, no one is quite sure how many households have had funds allocated to them for this scheme period. It is thought that the government will now concentrate on first time buyers and new build properties, through the schemes Homebuy Direct and New Build Homebuy.
The Land Registry has released figures suggesting that house prices rose in June by 0.1%, complimenting the earlier released Nationwide reports of a 0.9% increase. But let’s not forget the Halifax release commenting on a 0.5% decrease! As I’ve said before, until these three report a simultaneous increase in house prices for a consecutive 3 month period, we can’t start jumping around just yet!
Not much to report on rates this week. Perhaps the lenders felt they deserved a holiday and have taken their kids away, expecting us hardworking independent mortgage brokers to be away also? No such luck. But good news in that rates seem to have stabilised for now!
And whilst on the subject of lenders, I was pleasantly impressed with Alastair Darlings meeting with all the major banks to sternly express his wishes that they lend more to consumers and businesses. Sadly, this is the second or third time they’ve met and we’ve not seen lending at sufficient levels to drive recovery in the property market since either previous meeting, so I’m not holding much hope! However, this time the threat of bringing in a competitions inquiry, if lending does not increase, has been raised. Although this struck me as funny, as I thought it was the gentlemen in question that sped up and agreed the merging and acquisitions of such ‘super banks’ at the outset?
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