So the Halifax is going to make payments up to £500m to 300,000 of its customers.

Here at Michael Usher Mortgage Services We ask, is this the new way that these banking corporations are going to operate. In a spirit of openness and fairness…We’ll see.

The reason why the Halifax, now part of the Lloyds group is being so generous is because they were found out and may have eventually had to given the money back any way.

Lloyds have said it was an agreement that was “voluntary” and “proactive”.

It was back in January 2009 when Halifax raised the margin on some of there mortgages from 2% to 3% above base rate. This caused an outcry in the papers, but the Halifax did nothing then.

This was the age of greedy bankers, which as we know is all over now, in this spirit of openness and fairness LOL

Of course as always, there technical reasons why the Halifax felt they could charge you more, (to do with the cap rate), but I wont bore you with details here.

About 600,000 customers will be contacted by the Halifax, however, about 300,000 customers will not receive a payment as they were not paying the SVR on their mortgage during the period affected.

Those who were affected and who are still with the Halifax will have their mortgage accounts credited in April this year.

If they have left the Halifax they will be traced and offered a cheque. Halifax said that some customers would receive a flat-rate payment of £250.

So all’s well that ends well I suppose

Reference; www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12524732

Yikes…Inflation has gone up in January.

The Consumer Price Index (the CPI) has gone up from 3.7% to 4%. This is mostly to due with the VAT increase at the Beginning of January.

Also the retail price index (the RPI) has also gone up 0.3% from 4.8% to 5.1% (which includes mortgage payments).

This does not bode well for home owners in Surrey with mortgages, unless of course they have fixed mortgages.

According to most of the money experts out there, there will now be huge pressure on the Bank of England to increase interest rates at the next MPC (monetary policy committee) meeting.

Here is an extract from a report from the BBC:

The CPI figure is the highest since November 2008, and will put pressure on the Bank of England to lift interest rates to curb accelerating inflation.

The CPI measure has now been one percentage point or more above target for 14 months.

Read more »

Here at our mortgage offices in Frimley, we tend not to get too excited at the latest Sky news headlines.

“The Value Of Your Home Is Decreasing” or “Money Experts Believe This is The Start Of a Slippery Slope” etc

Every month there are many experts and organisations, who get wheeled before the media for their “Expert” opinion.

If they asked me, I’d say the same thing every time, buying property is for the long term, so in the words of Big Tony from the Sopranos, “Don’t worry ’bout it”…Now back on TV by the way starting from episode 1.

Of course every month, the Nationwide Building Society, bring out their figures too and they have a history of being a little more sensible, without sensationalism.

However they did report that two months ago, house prices were the same in Dec 2009 as in Dec 2010.

But now, they are down 1.1% lower than in January 2010

*Seasonally adjusted..

Commenting on the figures Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said:

“The property market entered 2011 with a whimper rather than a bang, with house prices edging down slightly in January. Prices fell by 0.1% month-on-month, leaving prices 1.1% lower than January 2010.

“January’s data does little to alter the picture of a sluggish market that has been evident since the summer. Indeed, the three month on three month measure of house prices, which is a better measure of the underlying trend, showed a fall of 0.5%, consistent with the gradual moderation in prices that has been in place since the summer of 2010.

“The outlook is still highly uncertain, but the most likely outcome is that the pattern of low transaction levels and prices moving sideways or modestly lower will continue through 2011.

“Demand for homes looks to have stabilised, albeit well below the levels prevailing before the crisis. Interest rates remain at historic lows, and labour market conditions have stabilised – both factors that will provide support to the market. However, the continued uncertain outlook for the economy will probably continue to keep many buyers on the sidelines.

“At the same time, there are few signs of a glut of unsold homes building up on the market that would lead to a sharper price correction. Indeed, there are tentative signs that the volume of homes coming onto the market may be slowing.”

If you need any advice on whether you should sell, buy emigrate….anything to do with property and mortgages, don’t hesitate to call.

Michael Usher

01276 670777

email:Michael@mumsltd.co.uk

The big banks and building societies are starting to gear up for an interest rise from the Bank of England, already I have seen a number of product (mortgage deals/offers) dissapear from the market.

The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee, meet again next week on 9th and 10th February. Will they raise interest rates then, maybe, maybe not.

But rates are rising at the moment and now is the time to get a fixed mortage.

Here is a short peice written by By Victoria Ward of the Telegraph newspaper, which I concur with..

“Banks have been accused of squeezing their customers at a time when the housing market is already suffering and consumer confidence is low.

The cost of a two-year fixed rate home loan in jumped from 3.84% to 4.09% and then again to 4.34%.

Its three year fixed loan increased from 4.64% to 4.79% and then again to 4.99% for buyers who have a 25% deposit.

And as mortgage lenders re-price their products, home owners are rushing to secure dwindling fixed-rate deals”.

Base rates are on the way up, so if you have a tracker mortgage, talk to me.

You can read the whole telegraph piece here

Michael

Sorry to keep banging on, but now is the time to fix your mortage  for the next 2-3 years.

I have been saying it for a while and I’ve just grabbed a piece from The Independent Newspaper. A piece written by Hamish McRae.

Named Business and Finance Journalist of the Year at the 2006 British Press Awards, The Independent’s associate editor  is one of the country’s most respected financial journalists and commentators.

“Interest rates are going to go up. Few economic forecasts an be made with 100-per-cent certainty, but this is surely one.

On the other hand, people who were astute enough or lucky enough to get a tracker mortgage three years ago are doing well, with monthly repayments far below anything that seemed possible at the time. So we have a combination that tends to favour the strong and damage the weak, which is troubling. It is merely a question of time before rates revert to something more normal. Read more »

As I have mentioned before, all the financial experts are warning of interest rises this year, possibly in the first half of the year.

If you need mortgage advice in  Surrey click here

Good news for savers, but unlese advice is your mortgage rate is fixed, you will see your mortgage payments increase.

There’s a good peice in the Telegraph today written by Harry Wallop, their Consumer Affairs Editor.

He suggests households will need to find an extra £1,800 a year by 2015 just to pay the interest on their credit cards and other loans as interest rates rises.

“Interest rates on credit cards and loans are expected to increase by between 2 percentage and 3 percentage points in the coming four years meaning the average household will have to divert a significant chunk of their disposable income to paying their debt, accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) said yesterday.

The report comes just a few days after many economists predicted that the Bank of England would be forced to start increasing interest rates in the first half of this year, much earlier than originally expected.

Their warnings came after surprisingly high so-called factory gate inflation figures – the prices that manufacturers pay for their raw materials shot up because of the rising oil and commodity prices.

Traders in the Government bond market are pricing in a rate rise by June, ending nearly two years of stability, during which time the Bank of England has kept rates at the record low of 0.5 per cent.

An increase in interest rates would not only hit the 30 million credit card users in Britain but also the eight million home owners on variable rate mortgages.

Though the typical household reduced its unsecured borrowing by £500 in 2010, as families tightened their belts and tried to pay down debts, the average household still owes around £8,000 on credit cards and loans.

PWC has calculated that the increase in credit card rates – which have steadily climbed despite the record Bank Rate – would mean families would have to find an extra £1,800 a year just to pay off the interest”.

You can read the whole piece here

Now is a good time  think about what you are going to do about your debt, especially, your credit card debit..

Need help, need advice, call me for friendly down to earth advice

Michael
Senior Mortgage Adviser

Great news for some home owners with mortgages in Surrey and Hampshire

Is it time to get a fixed mortgage? or are there other alternatives.

Every case we handle is different and that is why it is important to get independent mortgage advice from experts.

According to most banking and city experts, interest rates are likely to rise a couple of points this year, which could be a serious issue for lots of people with certain types of mortgages.

Now is the time to review your morgtage requirements, new mortgages are coming out all the time.

Saving just 1% of your repayments, could make a hell of a difference long term.

So don’t delay, call me for a free review.

Michael
michael@mumsltd.co.uk

mums

Figures released today from the Nationwide Building Society, show that house prices remain unchanged for 2010.

There was a slight change and a modest increase in values for the last month, showing that prices have stabalised, but personally I like to take the longer term view.

Although these facts are correct UK wide, house prices in Camberley, Farnborough, Aldershot and Fleet have fared fairly well.

As I have said before on my blog, unless you are buying to sell houses (as a business), in the long term, buying a house is one of the safest forms of investments there is.

Even if you are buying a property to let out long term, as long as the mortgage is covered and the mortgage is being paid down, this is a great form of investment….LONG TERM

Nationwide’s Chief Economist, Martin Gahbauer, said:

“The seasonally adjusted price index for a typical UK property rose by 0.4% month-on-month in December, after having posted declines in the previous two months.[1]  The three month on three month rate of change – which smoothes out the monthly volatility of house prices and is a better indicator of the recent trend – rose from
-1.3% in November to -1.0% in December and is still consistent with modestly declining house prices.  For 2010 as a whole, house prices posted an unremarkable gain of 0.4%, as most of the price increases from the first half of the year were reversed during the second half.  The essentially flat outcome for the full year is in line with expectations.

“When house prices are trending down only modestly rather than decisively – as has been the case in recent months – it is not unusual to a see a mixed pattern of monthly declines and occasional increases.  Despite December’s increase, house prices have fallen in four out of the last six months and it would be premature to suggest that the recent downward trend has been broken on the basis of one month’s figures.  However, the December figures do underscore the fact the current downtrend is only very modest, particularly when seen in comparison to the second half of 2008.  During this period, the three month rate of change dropped to as low as -5.5%.”

So there you have it from an expert…A bit like myself

If I can help with any aspect of buying a property, please get in touch..

Best regards

Michael

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has kept UK interest rates on hold at 0.5%, and unveiled no new quantitative easing (QE) measures

Homeowners, or those with debts and anyone with a property to sell will be cheering the news.

However this is not great news for savers, particularly the over-55s and anyone looking to their future finances will have welcomed the news with a little less enthusiasm.

Martin Ellis, housing economist with Halifax has more good news “Interest rates are likely to remain very low for an extended period, which will support the improved mortgage affordability position for homeowners. As a result, we do not expect to see a significant fall in house prices.”At the MPC’s November and October meetings, there was a three-way split among its nine members.

Read more »

Good news for first time buyers in the local area.

Here in Camberley, first time buyers have been given an opportunity to get a foot on the housing ladder.

One of our favourite lenders Abbey, have launched an exclusive 85 per cent first time buyer loan to value.

This is a three-year fixed rate mortgage is available at 5.69 per cent with a £495 fee.  Borrowers are also offered free basic mortgage valuation and £250 cashback on completion.

Some of Abbey’s rates, especially fixed and tracker products have also been reduced by up to 0.2 per cent.

This reduction includes a two-year fixed rate at 3.25 per cent up to 70 per cent LTV. It was previously at 3.45 per cent.

The two-year tracker at 70 per cent LTV has also been reduced from 2.69 per cent to 2.59 per cent.

“Our latest rate cuts demonstrate our ongoing commitment to supporting intermediaries by consistently offering highly competitive mortgages to help them meet the needs of their clients,” Alan Mathewson, managing director of Abbey for Intermediaries, said.

Santander recently announced new three and five-year fixed and two-year tracker products available to existing current account and investment customers.

Please note this is not available to everyone, call me for further details, but it does offer hope for first time buyers in Surrey.