Best Loans News

Now, I don’t want to give you too much of a shock, so please make sure you’re sitting down and take a few deep breaths before continuing………OK?…….good! According to a number of experts, we could be starting to see some level of financial recovery in the housing and homeowner loan markets.

The latest figures from the Nationwide’s house price index survey has shown that the average price of a property in the UK increased in March to £150,946, from £147,746 in the previous month, the first increase in prices since October 2007. Furthermore, the amount of activity from individuals buying houses and applying for homeowner loans also increased to the highest level since May last year.

Traditionally, spring time always sees an improvement in the housing market, but many experts now believe that we have seen a turning point in the housing market, as many have predicted we were near to the bottom of the market from November last year and although there is still along way to go, this is certainly a step in the right direction.

Alongside this news, comes the news that the total number of available homeowner loan or mortgage products has also increased. Mortgage Brain, the mortgage sourcing system for loan intermediaries, has shown an increase of 13 per cent in March, to 3,091 by the end of the month. Tracker loans saw the biggest increase, followed by fixed rate loans and then standard variable rates. With house prices now stabilising, there has also been an increase in higher loan to value products.

Mark Lofthouse of Mortgage Brain said “Although the market is still a long way from where it was 12 months ago we are starting to see the first increases in product availability for some considerable time. It’s important, particularly in the current climate, that we continue to closely monitor these changes as over time they represent early indicators of market movement. It is also encouraging to see that the number of mainstream lender products with a higher loan to value ratio are increasing.”