Archive for the ‘Mortgages’ Category

20 per cent greater mortgage affordability

According to financial services group and mortgage lender Barclays, the average property owner in the UK has seen 20 per cent less of their salary taken up with mortgage repayments . The proportion of salary spent by property owners dropped considerably, falling from 196 of every 1,000 pounds in their salaries to 157 pounds per month.

The head of mortgages at Barclays, Andy Gray, reportedly commented: “For the 11 million UK households who gain a mortgage there is a silver lining to the recession – a substantial reduction in mortgage payments right when they need it most.”

Due to the lower mortgage requirements, thousands of borrowers throughout the UK may be attractive the opportunity to overpay adhering their home loans to bring down the total length of the loan and the interest paid. Full Article

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Skipton mortgage controversy continues

The pledge news is full of concern regarding the decision by Skipton building society to up their standard variable rate, despite the Bank of England keeping base rate at a historically low 0.5%. The decision has annoyed many mortgage borrowers, not to mention mortgage brokers .

Skipton are thought to be struggling to stay independent, and had to break the promise it gave to much of its mortgage book when they took out a loan . The standard variable rate will now have being far in excess of the three points over the base rate .

The reaction was swift. Mortgage broker London and Country set up a free mortgage helpline for Skipton borrowers looking to leave the club. The decision by Skipton goes against Financial Services Authority pleas to treat customers fairly, more mortgage experts said. Full Article

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Scottish Trust Deed

                                

A Scottish trust deed is a legal binding agreement that’s available to Scottish citizens which allows a trustee to deal with an individual’s financial affairs. This is often used as an attempt by Scottish citizens to help get them out of debt.

It’s used by individuals that have been struggling with a lot of debt. Although many confuse a Scottish trust deed with a Debt Management Plan, they are quite different. A Scottish trust deed allows you to make a formal proposal of your debts to a creditor in an attempt to clear them up and is usually done through a trustee.

When a Scottish trust deed is set up, all of your debts are consolidated into one monthly payment that is spread out over 36 months.

This is paid to the credito

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30 Year Fixed Mortgage Rates – Citigroup Mortgage Rates at 4.85% Today

The average for 30 year fixed mortgage rates has been quite stable for the month of January but that might change in the near future.  Citigroup conventional mortgage rates have been quoted at 4.85% today but this is in very light volume as today is a holiday.  The stock market and treasury markets are closed so you can expect volume for mortgage rate quotes to be extremely light.  We will not see strong movements until tomorrow when the market opens.

In the month of December 30 year fixed mortgage rates had a range of 4.49% to 5.35%.  Since the opening of the year the 30 year fixed was between 4.9% and 5% for the entire month until the end of last week.  Now that mortgage rates have broken below 4.9% it will be interesting to see if the volatility picks up which is very likely.  If

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Capital Markets Update – Continuing Unemployment Claims Fall While Initial Claims Rise

Quicken Loans Capital Markets Update for January 14, 2010

Treasury and mortgage attraction prices are slightly higher this morning ahead of the week’s final Treasury auction. Today’s December retail sales report was expected to become greater following November’s strong reading.

The reading was worse than expected which is helping to support bonds this morning. Also, today’s weekly initial unemployment claims report was expected to creep higher while this week’s continuing claims report was expected to fall.

Initial unemployment crept higher and this week’s continuing claims report fell, both moves were more than expected.

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Mortgage lenders tipped to raise SVRs

More lenders are likely to increase their standard variable mortgage rates (SVRs) over the coming weeks as they seek to cover costs associated with mortgage provision, it has been revealed.

According to Ben Wilkie, editor at What Mortgage, most lenders do not use the interest rate set by the Bank of England as the basis for their SVR product.

As a result, they are unlikely to be influenced by the decision of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee to stand by the UK interest rate unchanged at 0.5 per cent last week.

Rather, they will be more concerned with covering the increasing cost of borrowing money from the money markets.

With moneyfacts.co.uk research showing eight mortgage lenders have raised their SVR since April 2009, Mr Wilkie believes it is only a matter of time before others follow suit.

“It always starts off [when] a couple of them hesitate their heads above the parapet and one time that has happened – and presumably they have got altogether the criticism for it – then all the other lenders will do it as well,” he commented.

The providers to have broken cover so far are Nationwide, Ipswich, Skipton, Scottish, Cambridge, Accord Mortgages, Marsden and Mansfield . Full Article

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Tags: Svrs

Mortgage Interest Rates January 10 – Current Rates Mixed Today

Mortgage interest rate for January 10th, 2010 are mixed today as the 30 year fixed mortgage rate is down to 4.94% while the 15 year fixed mortgage rate is up to 4.41%. Today the 5/1 ARM is up to 4.08%. As always, mortgage rate quote volume is extremely slow on Sunday because most banks and lending institutions are closed for the weekend. We will get a victory mark as to the direction of mortgage rates tomorrow when markets and banks open back up.

For much of last week we saw current pledge rates and the 10 year treasury rate yield stable. For the week the 30 year fixed mortgage rate and the 10 year treasury rate yield were basically unchanged. The low level of volatility was expected as mortgage rates and treasury yields had been all of the map before last week.

Many analysts have predicted that mortgage rates are likely to stir up higher in 2010.

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First-time buyers struggle with high costs

First-time buyers are being hit by strict lending criteria which is preventing them from entering the housing market .

According to Helen Adams, managing director of FirstRungNow, many first-time buyers are struggling to climb onto the housing ladder due to the difficulty experienced when applying for a mortgage and the need for a sizeable deposit .

Ms Adams also believes that stamp duty charged by the government on properties should subsist waived for first-time buyers, claiming it is “a significant expense” that “just adds to the difficulty of the category”.

However, Ms Adams added that despite the costs involved it was not “a bad time” to enter onto the property market, a fact backed up by Halifax’s first-time buyer review which revealed that house price affordability has improved drastically.

When the government temporarily raised the threshold for stamp what one is bound from September 2008 to December 2009, 51 per cent of all those buying a mortgage escaped the cost involved. Full Article

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