(1888PressRelease)
May 29, 2007 - The building society predicts interest rate hikes effectuated by the Bank of England's monetary policy committee (MPC) recently will have an adverse affect on the abilities of many Britons to finance a move.
As a result, three in five unsecured borrower applications are now turned down by Nationwide as it seeks to protect itself from making loans which homeowners subsequently discover they can not afford to repay.
"We are being much more careful about the business we're bringing on to the balance sheet," confirmed Graham Beale, Nationwide's chief executive.
Nationwide forecasted that as a result of the aforementioned interest rate increases, the housing market will cool significantly.
Consequently, it announced it envisaged house price growth for the rest of the year to be relatively modest in comparison to recent times. However, property purchase expert Julian King is more direct in his prediction.
"The market is heading for a crash. If you accept that rate rises, lack of first time buyers, probable introduction of Hips later this year, the volume of repossessions, slowdown in the buy-to-let market and the continued increase in number of ludicrous mortgage arrangements all compound, we're heading for a time where 'negative equity' starts to become a buzz phrase again."
King is director of National Homebuyers, the UK's largest fast property purchasing firm. National Homebuyers have been heralding the likelihood of a market crash since the end of last year.
People concerned about the future value of their property gather more information
at www.nationalhomebuyers.co.uk/index.asp
or call 0870 979 8118.
