A study carried out by the Lloyds TSB mortgage department has found that the days of the removal man may be numbered as people take a do it themselves approach.
The bank surveyed their mortgage customers and found that over half of them were planning to move into their new home under their own steam, without employing professionals to move their goods. Lloyds TSB also found that the estate agent was being cut out of 10 percent of home sales as vendors sold privately.
A Lloyds TSB mortgage department advisor commenting on the results suggested that the economic climate could be driving these changes. The average cost of employing a professional removal company is over GBP7,000 so being able to save a lot of that makes good sense.
Special Summer offers have been announced by the Co-op, better known in financial circles as CIS. Their key offer is on a three year tracker mortgage that is only available to CIS current account holders.
The first thing to notice is the sub 6 percent interest rate – 5.99 percent when customers can provide a 25 percent deposit. There is also no fee on this particular mortgage, something that is refreshing in the mortgage market of today. Customers will also be pleased to see that there are no legal fees and remortgage customers can also receive a free property valuation.
There is great flexibility in this CIS mortgage too, with the option to overpay and thus reduce the total repayment term and interest. Payment holidays are also available to help customers manage their expenditure from time to time.
The latest data from the Halifax shows a 2.4 percent drop in house prices for May 2008, making them 3.8 percent lower than they were in May 2007.
A house builder commenting on the state of the housing market right now felt it was quite depressed, with sales numbers well down compared to what was expected. They are forecasting sales down by around 15 percent compared with last year and when combined with lower prices as well the state of the new house market is precarious. The Halifax figures have been confirming this situation for the last few months so it has not come as a surprise to anyone.
What is making the property market harder to work in is the limited availability of home loan funds. The Halifax mortgage providers, as well as those of other financial organisations, are being more wary of who they lend money to. Larger deposits are required now as well as a whiter than white credit history, making it much more difficult for buyers to source the funding they need.