Mortgages

Asking prices are falling this month as sellers drop prices to more realistic levels in the traditional housing market summer lull, according to the latest index from property website Rightmove.

Bradford & Bingley (B&B) says mortgage arrears at the firm, which was crushed by the financial crisis last year, more than doubled in the first half of 2009.

Mortgage broker John Charcol says the Government is demonstrating a "complete failure" to understand the current state of the housing market after research suggested up to 3.5 million households are unable to move.

UK home repossessions fell by 10% in the second quarter of the year compared with the first three months of 2009, figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) suggest.

The UK Government must step up its pressure on lenders if it wants to free the market from its "heavy constraints", the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) says.

House prices rose by an average 2.6% in the first six months of the year but are still almost 11% down on a year ago, latest figures from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) suggest.

Lending on shared ownership properties accounted for 33% of business at Cheshire Mortgage Corporation (CMC) in Q2 2009, up by 16% on the same period for 2008.

Average LTVs for residential mortgages fell by 2% to 67% in Q2 2009 as banks remained cautious about lending, according to research by the Mortgage Advice Bureau.

Signs of revived interest in the housing market comes in the July survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

The number of mortgages granted in June was up 23% from the month before, new data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) shows.