Home repossessions fall in first-quarter of 2010
Housing repossessions fell in the first quarter of 2010 to 9,800 compared to 10,600 in the previous quarter and 13,200 during the same period in 2009. The number of homeowners in arrears also fell from 196,400 in the previous course quarter to 186,300 in the first quarter of 2010. So what does this mean for the UK property market?
It was also interesting to see that buy to let landlords are now starting to prosper again with mortgage arrears in this area down from 20,700 to 19,300 over the last two quarters. This compares to a figure approaching 29,000 in the same period for 2009 and perfectly reflects the recovery we have seen so far in the UK property sector.
Even though it is always good to see the number of repossessions fall there is a belief that more mortgage support programs have kicked in to hold down the figure in the short-term. How long these support programs will be able continue is open to debate as we need to see a sustained recovery in the UK economy before the threat of an increase in repossessions can be discounted.
While the general trend appears to be positive the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) still believes that UK repossessions will increase from 48,000 in the whole of 2009 to 53,000 in 2010. Even though this figure is likely to be revised downwards in the event of an economic recovery in the UK there is still concern about the fragile state of the UK economy.
Share this..
Related stories
71,000 benefit from Help to Buy scheme
28/11/2014 The government run Help to Buy scheme has helped 71,000 people across the UK buy a new home, according to official statistics. Help to Buy is a government run scheme that means people can move home with a deposit as low as 5%. It was brought in to help hard working people who can afford a mortgage, but may struggle to save the high percentage deposits required by mortgage provide...
Read MoreGovernment set to push for three month window of opportunity before repossession
The UK government has today announced plans to push through a three-month window of opportunity to allow those at risk of having their homes repossessed the chance to make amends. This is a very important move and one which appears to have the backing of at least one of the major UK banks. It is highly likely that the rest of the banking community will follow suit in order to be seen to be doing "...
Read More£1 million home sales at highest ever
31/10/2014 The number of property sales worth £1 million or more is the highest it has even been, according to research from the UK’s largest mortgage provider, Lloyds Bank. There were 6,143 houses over £1 million sold in the first half of 2014, the equivalent of 33 transactions a day. This is a 43% increase on last year, when sales totalled 4,198. Million pound house sales have grown b...
Read MoreUK banks face £1.6 billion Wall Street lawsuit
UK banks such as HSBC, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland are amongst 15 banks facing a lawsuit from US-based Cambridge Place Investment Partners in what could become a very influential test case. The UK giants are joined by JP Morgan, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch, UBS, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, all facing claims that they mis-sold around £1.6 billion of mortgag...
Read MoreWill competition in the mortgage sector continue if business does not pick up?
In a classic chicken and egg situation we have seen significant competition return to the UK mortgage sector as lenders bank on a recovery in the UK property sector in the short to medium term. While this is just the tonic that property buyers requiring in the UK, there are concerns that unless we see a significant increase in property purchase activity some of the more generous mortgage deals on...
Read More