Repossessions 'to jump 75% as the homes crisis bites'

[hugebrain]

As Mark Twain said - "Buy land whilst you can, they aren't making it anymore"

Where can you buy land? Ireland maybe, they seem to own most of it?

[Pondlife]

AtW you are Dim Prawn and I claim my five.... no wait, you are SAS and I cliam my five..... No, I've got it... You are pointless and you can keep your fiver cos you're gonna need it for rent.


There's nothing to see here, everyone back to there vehicles. Move along now.

[VectraMan]

ahead of the worst property crisis for a decade, .

Exactly how many property crises have there been in the last decade?

[Archangel]

Excellent!

So there will be plenty of cheap property at the auctions then.

Snap them up and wait for the inevitable rise.

As Mark Twain said - "Buy land whilst you can, they aren't making it anymore"

[KentPhilip]

Yep

Go to http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk where there is a lively forum debating the carnage that the UK housing market is going to become in the next two years.

[AtW]

Repossessions 'to jump 75% as the homes crisis bites'
By SEAN POULTER - More by this author »
Last updated at 23:24pm on 29th October 2007

House repossessions will rise by 75 per cent this year, ahead of the worst property crisis for a decade, say mortgage lenders.

The CML expects growing numbers of people to struggle to pay their mortgage next year as the recent interest rate hikes take their toll

The body, which speaks for banks and building societies, is also forecasting a surge in the number of householders at least three months in arrears on their home loans to 170,000.

The CML says that 15 per cent increase is the final evidence that the property market is on the brink of its most serious turmoil since Labour came to power in 1997.

The grim predictions came on a day Bank of England figures provided new evidence that the housing market is seeing a sharp reverse.

Just 102,000 loans for purchase were agreed last month, the lowest figure for more than two years and down by 20 per cent on September 2006.

The property market is reeling from five increases in the Bank of England base rate in a year (AtW's comments: no you numpty, the market is reeling from overpriced speculative mother of all bubbles full of hot air, not puny rate raises) - which have pushed up mortgages by up to £200 a month - and the global credit crunch - which has seen firms restrict loans.

Estate agents have reported lower sales and even the most positive analysts suggest the market will stagnate for at least a year.

Others, including the International Monetary Fund, warn of heavy price falls.

The CML predicts that total house sales will fall by 170,000 next year to just over a million. This, it believes, will wipe £20 billion off mortgage lending, leaving it at £340 billion.

Property economists at Capital Economics are predicting a fall in prices of 3 per cent in both 2008 and 2009.

A spokesman said: "The Bank's data showed that higher interest rates are certainly having an effect on mortgage demand.

"Approvals in September fell to their lowest level in over two years. And with the tightening in lending criteria likely to affect the cost and availability of mortgage finance, we expect this downward trend to continue into 2008."

Economist Alan Clarke, of BNP Paribas, said: "The market is slowing. We think there will be plenty more downside (AtW's comment: no petals Sherlock) in the coming months which will lead to a sharp fall in house price inflation further down the road."

The Centre for Economics and Business Research is predicting price falls at the end of this year and through into 2008.

However, it believes a property shortage, fuelled by a rising population, will see increases in 2009 and 2010.

Philip Hammond, the shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, blamed the misery of rising repossessions on the Government.

He said: "Gordon Brown's decade at the Treasury was characterised by years of easy credit fuelling a house price boom and a mountain of personal debt.

"But he has left a legacy of falling take-home pay and an increasingly ferocious credit squeeze - with homeowners and would-be homebuyers left to pick up the pieces."

Home repossessions peaked at 76,000 in 1991, when a property bust followed the 1980s boom.

The housing charity Shelter fears the problem could be more difficult now because there is no longer any meaningful State safety net for those who cannot afford their mortgages because of unemployment or sickness.

Chief executive Adam Sampson said: "The Government should show compassion and save thousands from the devastating effects of repossession and homelessness."

Many others have increased their borrowing on credit cards and bank loans to try to make ends meet.

A recent survey by housing charity Shelter claimed a million people had used a credit card to make a mortgage or rent payment in the past year.

The value of new loans secured on property, including those for house purchase and remortgaging was £31.21billion in September.

Unsecured borrowing through credit cards, overdrafts and loans increased by £1.35 billion, the highest rise since January 2006.

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Today I got rent contracts for another year, the end is nigh