House markets perform as expected

The housing and mortgage markets are continuing to fall as expected, but there is hope that measures taken by the Bank of England will soon free up credit, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) have said.

Lending this month totalled £25.5 billion -which is 20 per cent lower than a year ago, but only two per cent lower than last month – but it is hoped that the Bank of England's special £50 billion liquidity scheme, will soon ease the current void in lending.

In a statement, the CML refused to blame the Bank of England for rising inflation levels: "The Bank of England finds itself stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place," it said.

"The story of rising inflation (through higher food and commodity prices) and slowing growth is one seen across the globe, and one over which the Bank has no direct control."

The CML believe that things will start to improve soon, but warned of weak numbers and the possibility of further deterioration in the next couple of months.

These predictions arrived as HBOS, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, announced that its profits outlook hadn't deteriorated any further since the market was last updated in March.

Mortgages News posted on 20/06/2008 16:28:33