Is the mortgage market finally waking up?
It would appear, in one of the more quiet periods for the UK housing market, that mortgage lenders in the UK are now getting ready for a particularly competitive 2010. Over the last few days we have seen the likes of First Direct, Alliance & Leicester, Abbey and Cheltenham and Gloucester slash their rates on fixed mortgages with over 94 mortgage arrangements now offering rates below 4% as opposed to 53 just two months ago.
Many people believe that while UK property prices have picked up over the last few months, we will only really see the state of the market as and when mortgage liquidity improves and people are actually allowed to lend money to buy houses. Despite the fact that the average property price in the UK has risen over the last few months, there are certainly a number of hotspots around the UK which appear to be having a substantial impact upon the "average property price".
Once we see a more natural flow of properties to the market we will then be up to gauge demand across the board. It will be interesting to see how the market reacts now that liquidity appears to be returning although it has to be said there are still many repossessed properties waiting to "hit the market".
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