mortgages

Average yearly mortgage repayments have risen by over 40% in the last five years, and are likely to reach an average of £7,000 in 2007, warns mform.co.uk.

An eminent expert conducting a review of the UK mortgage market in 2004 declared customers should be buying products with long-term fixed rates and that brokers should be pushing these.

The mortgage packager market has grown 30% since M-Day to between £28bn-£30bn, according to figures published by packaging lender The Mortgage Business.

House prices rose by 1.3% to an average £188,623 in January, but other indicators suggest the market will slow by the end of the year, according to the latest Halifax house price index.

HSBC stunned investors late last night with a stark warning its bad debt provisions would rise by $1.7bn as a result of US borrowers defaulting on their mortgages, says the Daily Telegraph .

Confidence in personal finances among mortgage holders is at a four-year low, says polling firm Ipsos MORI.

There is still strong growth in the market for loans and bridging finance secured against homes, Bank of England analysis of banking deposits suggests.

Today's insolvency picture could get much worse through the rest of this year into 2008, says Grant Thornton, the financial and professional services firm.

Smaller mortgage intermediary firms are being urged to look to the technology being used by bigger players in the industry to counter criticism of processes by the FSA.

Interest rate rises finally look to be achieving effect in the housing market, according to Nationwide's latest monthly house price index.