First Time Buyer Magazine – Help on the Property Ladder

Is now the right time to buy your first property? This is a highly speculated question at the moment, with falling house prices and lower interest rates some could argue that now is the perfect time to buy.

You will need a sizable deposit, but don’t let that put you off, it may be a wise move to look around the not too top end areas where there is still growth to come, look how area’s such as Clapham, Battersea (read more…)

Category: Europe, Mortgage News | December 22nd, 2008 | Comments (0)

Investors lose millions over Buy-to-Let Scheme

East Yorkshire Buy-to-Let investors are among more than 100 nationwide caught up in a scheme by Morris Properties and several conveyancing solicitors being investigated by the police.

The Leeds based business, Morris Properties, are facing group legal action after it was alleged to have sold more than 1,000 properties in Leeds and the North East for more than they were (read more…)

Category: Companies for Mortgages, Europe, Interest Rates, Mortgage News | December 22nd, 2008 | Comments (0)

Home foreclosure filings in the Albany, NY, area drop 20 %

The number of Home foreclosure fillings in the Albany NY area tumbled 20 percent in November compared to the same time last year, home foreclosure filings nationwide also increased according to RealtyTrac.

There were 95 home foreclosure filings in Schoharie counties, Saratoga, Schenectady, Rensselaer and Albany in November. The data was compiled by RealtyTrac an online company that markets (read more…)

Category: Mortgage News, US | December 11th, 2008 | Comments (0)

Mortgage Deals: 65 percent pulled in the last year

Homebuyers who do not have hefty deposits are finding it difficult to find mortgage deals due to the shrinking mortgage product range that is available to them, this comes as banks and building Societies lend to people seeking home loans that are a lesser risk for them.

In the last year the number of mortgage products on the market has fallen by 65 (read more…)

Category: Europe, Mortgage News | December 10th, 2008 | Comments (0)

Abbey raises Mortgage rates despite Libor plunging

The Spanish owned Bank, Abbey (LON:ANLA) raised its tracker Mortgage rates yesterday, pushing its two-year tracker mortgage product up by 0.25 percent, this comes despite the interest rate cut and the Libor rate falling.

The new Abbey tracker rate will be set at 2.24 percent over base interest rate currently at 2 percent. Previously the tracker was at 1.99 percent over base. However with the interest rate (read more…)

Category: Europe, Mortgage News | December 10th, 2008 | Comments (0)

Northern Rock ignores Government Urges

Northern Rock the fully Nationalized Bank ignored the government and only past on 0.5 percent of last week’s 1 percent base interest rate cut by the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee.

Existing Northern Rock customers who are on tracker mortgages that are pegged to the Bank of England rate will benefit from the full 1 percent rate (read more…)

Category: Europe, Interest Rates, Mortgage News | December 9th, 2008 | Comments (1)

HSBC and First Direct Offer Mortgage Deal at 3.49 percent

HSBC the bank that has managed to stay relatively strong compared to its rivals during the global financial crisis announced that they will be increasing mortgage lending by 20 percent next year.

First Direct which are part of HSBC (LON:HSBA) had even more good news for the mortgage market, the on-line bank has announced a new lifetime tracker offset mortgage product at 1.49 percent (read more…)

Category: Europe, Mortgage News | December 8th, 2008 | Comments (0)

Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest Mortgage Rate Update

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and subsidiary NatWest have cut its Standard Variable Rate (SVR) by 0.75 percent to 4.44 percent from 5.19 percent, the changes will take effect from January 1 2009.

RBS reduced their SVR after last week’s base interest rate cut of 1 percent by the Bank of England Monetary Policy (read more…)

Category: Europe, Interest Rates, Mortgage News | December 8th, 2008 | Comments (0)

Lloyds TSB Chief Economist: Housing market firmer than we are led to believe

Lloyds TSB (LON:LLOY) chief Economist, Trevor Williams makes reference to the official house price figures that will be released on Tuesday, saying that the house price decline may not be as bad as we are led to believe.

With both Nationwide and Halifax reporting house prices falling around 12.4 percent in the year leading up to September, Government figures suggested that the price decline is not as bad (read more…)

Category: Europe, Mortgage News | December 8th, 2008 | Comments (0)

HSBC will increase mortgage lending by 20 percent in 2009

HSBC Holdings Plc (LON:HSBA) have vowed that they will boost the mortgage market in 2009 by increasing it’s lending by 20 percent. The move has pleased government officials who have been urging building societies and banks to resume lending in a bid to get the worsening housing market moving again.

Mervyn King, the Bank of England Governor said that the most pressing challenge the government has to deal with is to get the banks to resume lending, the Chancellor Alistair Darling also said that (read more…)

Category: Europe, Mortgage News | December 8th, 2008 | Comments (0)