Mortgages

House prices rose for the fourth month in a row during August as demand for properties continued to outweigh supply, according to the latest Nationwide House Price Index.

Self-certification mortgages now account for less than 2% of the mortgage market compared with 10% a year ago, research suggests.

Fewer than half of mortgage advisers think business will improve in the last quarter of 2009.

Mortgage approvals for house purchase have risen to a 17-month high, according to the British Bankers' Association (BBA).

Borrowers are continuing to suffer as lenders remain reluctant to reduce the cost of fixed rate mortgages, according to Moneyfacts.co.uk.

The director of a Cornwall-based IFA has been slapped with a £17,500 fine for failing to tell the FSA about an employee's suspect methods and ethics.

Building societies are likely to suffer falling profits as interest rates remain low and credit losses mount, says accounting group KPMG.

Coventry Building Society has shrugged off the credit problems plaguing other mortgage lenders, posting a rise in profits for the first six months of the year.

A total of 80% of mortgage applications were approved in July, representing a 10% increase on the start of the year.

Gross mortgage lending rose 26% to £16bn in July compared to the previous month, according to the latest data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).