UK mortgage lending down again
UK mortgage lending for August was down 22.3% against the corresponding period last year with just under 32,000 approvals. In total £11.4 million was injected into the UK housing arena although this was well down on the £13.3 billion just a month earlier. So what does this mean for the future of the UK mortgage market and the UK property market?
The August figure for 2010 is the lowest August figure since 2000 and indeed we are now back towards lending figures not seen since April 2009. When you consider that April 2009 was seen by many as the low point of the recent UK economic turmoil then perhaps we are headed towards a difficult 2010 and 2011?
It is hard to find any one particular reason to explain the dramatic downturn in the UK mortgage market with the economy struggling, disposable incomes down, house prices falling and UK government austerity measures starting to kick in. It may well be an amalgamation of all of these particular elements have come together to cause something of a doomsday scenario for the UK economy in the short to medium term. Quite what it will take to turn around the UK mortgage arena remains to be seen but until we see more funding coming forward and more interest this could be yet another drag on the UK economy.
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