Paul Hunt, managing director of Phoebus Software said: “No monthly change in house prices doesn’t mean the value of property is staying still. With inflation running at over 4.2% and prices falling on an annual basis, the value of property is falling steadily. But considering the challenging conditions the market has faced, a 1.3% annual fall in prices shouldn’t strike fear into the hearts of mortgage lenders. The property market was subdued in 2011, as nine out of the twelve most recent months reported in the Land Registry figures showed transactions fell year on year and the developing crisis in the eurozone has reduced confidence among buyers. That this has caused only a modest price fall is a demonstration of the resilience of the UK property market. Lenders have acknowledged this, offering record low mortgage rates and increasing lending volumes on an annual basis for the last four months for the first time in four years. Although prices are falling, the size of those falls is encouraging when one considers the current strength of the downward pressure on property prices and the willingness of lenders to make finance available to support the market”.
30 Jan 2012
Paul Hunt, managing director of Phoebus Software said: “The fall of GDP in the final quarter of last year makes these BBA numbers are all the more remarkable. Those who complain lending volumes are still far below the long term average should count their blessings. Stop-start growth in the UK economy and potential disaster in those of our main trading partners could have caused lenders to button up their wallets and head for the hills. Instead, the high street banks boosted their net lending activity 1.5% last year and last month injected 12% more into the property market than they did in December 2010. This is a show of defiant confidence in the UK’s economy and lenders should be commended for it”.
25 Jan 2012
Paul Hunt, managing director Phoebus Software said: “The annual increase in gross lending isn’t large enough to indicate the market is returning to the levels seen a few years ago, but it’s very encouraging nonetheless. In the second half of 2011, the eurozone crisis and the resulting rise in LIBOR could have caused lenders to retreat into their shells to weather possible defaults in Greece and beyond. But in fact lenders have demonstrated they are prepared to support the property market in the UK as far as is possible. On a seasonally adjusted basis, gross lending rose in seven of the last eight months, which last happened in 2009. 2012 will certainly offer major challenges to lenders hoping to expand their activities in the UK, but their efforts in the latter part of 2011 demonstrate they are well prepared to meet them”.
23 Jan 2012
Paul Hunt, managing director of Phoebus Software said: “No matter how much doom-laden analysis one does, the proof ultimately lies in the pudding. A gloomy picture may be emerging from the eurozone, but anyone who predicted this will cause lenders to clam up has been proven wrong by the remarkable resilience shown by the CML’s figures. The Bank’s commitment to ultra-low interest rates has certainly helped, but the key to boosting both the volume and value of mortgage lending has been lenders’ willingness to take advantage of the favourable conditions to pass on highly affordable finance to borrowers. That’s not to say rising LIBOR rates, along with a seemingly worsening situation on the continent won’t force lenders’ hands as the year goes on, but it’s hugely encouraging that lenders have shown themselves willing to support borrowers wherever they can”.
16 Jan 2012
It’s an indicator of the extent to which smartphones have become part everyday life that the arrival of Gorilla Glass 2 has been lauded far beyond the trade press. Stronger glass – which could make cracked mobile screens a thing of the past – has made news from London to Auckland. But although the announcement should be cause for huge relief among butterfingered smartphone users, the makers themselves have acknowledged their innovation is unlikely to end this perennial problem.
13 Jan 2012