| 29 November 2007 - Mortgage Approvals reach 3 year low
Mortgage approvals in the UK have fallen to their lowest level in almost 3 years, data from the BoE showed.
The latest report from Nationwide revealed UK house prices fell at their fastest pace in over 12 years in November.
New mortgage approvals dropped to 88 000 in October from a downwardly revised 100 000 the month before and from 128 000 the same time last year.
There was also a slowdown in mortgage lending growth to £7.33bn last month from £9.49bn in September, the weakest figure since July 2005.
Nationwide also revealed that prices slipped for the first time since February 2006, dropping 0.8% during the month after a 1.1% gain in October. That takes the annual house price inflation index down to 6.9% from 9.7% the month before.
4 December 2007 - FSA informs lenders of oncoming credit crunch
The country's financial watchdog has issued one of its starkest warnings on the state of the mortgage market and credit conditions, telling lenders to prepare for poor times and secure adequate liquidity, even at high prices. According to the FSA, at least 1.4 million short-term fixed- rate mortgages will end in 2008.
The retail managing director at the Financial Services Authority, told the country's top lenders on Tuesday that domestic borrowers are likely to come under strain in 2008, with many unlikely to be able to refinance their home loans at attractive terms.
"Many of these borrowers are on relatively high loan-to-value ratios or income multiples and will find it difficult (if not impossible) to refinance their mortgage on favourable terms, which will leave them facing a significantly higher interest rate on their borrowings, which may prove too much for many of them to afford," he said.
He said subprime borrowers "may not have access to the market at any price" until normal conditions return.
In his speech at the Council of Mortgage Lenders' annual conference, he told lenders to protect themselves for tough market conditions by ensuring they have adequate levels of liquidity.. One of the key lessons learnt from the near-collapse of the country's fifth-largest mortgage lender, Northern Rock in September, Briault said firms should also do more to revise tests to ensure they can withstand more turmoil, particularly covering liquidity and credit risks.
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