According to new research many homeowners are not taking an active role in understanding and managing their mortgage.It has become clear that many homeowners do not understand the fundamentals of their mortgage and this is stopping them to achieving savings.Many homeowners tend to forget about their mortgage deal and just see it as a one off purchase to aid in them buying a property. But they are in fact missing out on saving a lot of money by not taking a more active role to learn and understand fully about mortgages. Research found that a large majority of mortgage payers did not even know what interest rate they were currently paying on their mortgage deal. This lack of interest by these homeowners could cost them a fortune in years to come if they do not take more interest in their finances. Knowing when to switch mortgages deals at the right time to get a lower rate of interest can save homeowners thousands of pounds. See our mortgage comparison table for more information or our guides and tips pages.
The monthly review of house prices provided by the Nationwide Building Society has shown another fall in house prices for June, though much less than it was in May.
House prices in June fell by less than one percent, compared with a drop of 2.5 percent in May. Although this is still a decrease in property prices it is at a much steadier rate which is an easier situation to deal with than the sharp drops seen before. The Nationwide Building Society chief economist noted that although the average house costs about GBP11,500 less than it did this time last year, compared with two years ago it is still 4 percent higher, and 9 percent higher when looking at a three year gap.
As the market stands then it is still in quite healthy shape for most homeowners who bought a couple of years ago or more and even then, as the Nationwide Building Society would point out, property is still an excellent investment over the longer term.
Looking at activity in the housing market the Ntionwide Building Society sees that the most popular type of property for a first time buyer is the traditional terraced house.
Figures show that approximately 38 percent of people looking to get on the property ladder go for a terraced house, preferring these over other types of accommodation. In the housing market as a whole just over 25 percent of houses bought are terraced so the preference for terraced houses for first time buyers is considerable.
Logically it makes sense that this is the case since terraced properties tend to be both smaller and less expensive to buy than larger places. This means they can be better suited to a first time buyers requirements and also easier to get a mortgage for since the cost is less. The Nationwide Building Society has seen that prices for terraced houses are rising quickly though.
