Consumers Wising Up As Housing Market Cools

ARE British consumers starting to take care of their finances after a long period of mindless money mismanagement?

According to a new report by the Building Societies Association, mortgage approvals fell in April compared to the same month last year, down from £4.2 million to £3.9 million.

Central to this slowdown in the housing market has been the recent flurry of interest rate rises; according to Hamptons International Mortgages, 70% of borrowers fixed their mortgages before the Bank of England’s last interest hike earlier this month.

This new-found parsimony is also backed up by British Bankers’ Association figures which show that both unsecured personal borrowing and credit card borrowing experienced little change in April compared to March.

BBA statistical guru David Dooks says: “Lower mortgage demand, weaker deposit growth and little change in personal loans or credit card borrowing all point to people paying more attention to their finances. High house prices and increasing monthly repayment costs are causing a slow down in the mortgage market and people are using money from their accounts instead of borrowing to meet their spending needs.”

But the debt is still there to pay…

If you are still willing to splash the cash on a new home, then why not go for “Belle Tout”, a lighthouse on Beachy Head which is on the market for £850,000, just six years after the council sold it for £900.

Anorak

Posted: 22nd, May 2007 | In: Money Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink