16/12/2011

Housing Market To Remain Flat

A group representing mortage lenders has reported the housing market is to remain flat over 2012, describing the climate as "challenging and highly uncertain".

In their 2012 forecast, the Council of Mortage Lenders (CML) said that housing transactions and mortgage lending activity will be broadly flat next year, continuing the "subdued pattern" of the past few years.

However, the group's report also predicted a rise of 22% in repossessions from 37,000 this year to 45,000 next year.

The group pointed to financial pressure as a result of falling real incomes and, more recently, higher unemployment as the key issue affecting house buying, adding that it was likely to "unwind" some of the improvement in mortgage arrears seen over the past two years and lead to a higher level of repossessions in 2012.

A spokesman for the group said: "Consumer confidence is currently at a low ebb, which suggests that borrower appetite may be muted – particularly for house purchase - at least until real incomes show signs of stabilising.

"Recent government housing initiatives should help to boost the proportion of house purchases made by first-time buyers, but their overall market impact depends upon ongoing mortgage credit availability."

Responding to the report, Labour’s Shadow Housing Minister Jack Dromey homeowners across the country in fear of losing their home will not be surprised by the report.

"For too many it will be a bleak Christmas in fear of losing their homes, in court trying to save it or on the streets having failed to do so. It is these people that are paying the price of this Government’s failing economic policies.

“Labour's five point plan for jobs and growth shows a different way. Getting the economy moving and people back to work is the surest way to help families stay in their homes, get the deficit down and put Britain on the right course for the future.”

(DW)

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