Market faces "most challenging period" says National Homebuyers

House price growth will slow to just one per cent in 2008, according to the latest forecast from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

[UKPRwire, Tue Oct 30 2007] The organisation says that property sales will fall, as will gross lending, while repossessions will rise in the year.

Michael Coogan, director general of the CML, said that next year will be one of the "most challenging" the market has faced, which will lead many homeowners to seek a quick property sale.

"The housing and mortgage markets are facing their most challenging period since Labour came to power a decade ago," he warned.

"Luckily, the credit crunch occurred at a time when the UK economy was robust, but even so the effects on the financial sector are significant, and the mortgage market is not immune from them.

"We now expect a slower mortgage market next year," added Mr Coogan.

Quick property sale property expert Julian King of National Homebuyers adds, "Even if the market regains some of its confidence and gets back to near-normality, there will still be those that are simply unable to get on the ladder.

"There will still be thousands of potential buyers that are prohibited from entering the market because they are unable to attain a mortgage at the level they require.

"Sales will fall because the buyers are not available and this will continue, even as the market levels".

Mr King is a director of National Homebuyers, the UK's leading fast property purchase firm that guarantees to make a fast offer to purchase any property in the UK for vendors who need a quick house sale.

The CML predicts that property sales will fall from 1.17 million in 207 to just 1.01 million in 2008.

Further to this, repossessions are expected to rise from 30,000 this year to 45,000 next year, while gross lending will drop from £360 billion to £340 billion.

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