Mortgages

The popularity of fixed-rate mortgages continued to fall in October, with their share of the market falling to 26.3%, according to John Charcol.

First-time buyers are returning to the property market due to a drop in property prices, according to research by online credit information provider Equifax.

The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) has called for reform of the UK's stamp duty system.

Mortgage brokers are flocking to secured loan providers in a bid to find alternative funding for clients hit by the withdrawal of lenders from the self-cert market.

Rightmove expects three further months of falls in asking prices following a 1.6% fall in November.

The buy-to-let market has begun to show signs of recovery with the number of deals increasing from the all time low of 179 in September 2009 to 239 today.

Platform has reduced rates on several fixed and tracker deals for the second time in two months.

Nearly one in three mortgage deals on the market are currently broker-only as lenders continue to make a commitment to the intermediary market, research suggests.

The FSA is set to tighten its rules on how lenders deal with mortgage arrears and repossessions.

The FSA must work with lenders and intermediaries to ensure its new rules for the mortgage market do not create ‘unintended and damaging side-effects' including forcing out good borrowers, CML chairman Matthew Wyles says.