20
Oct
Affordability showing improvement, new survey indicates
Housing affordability in Britain is getting better, a new survey
has indicated.
The latest Daily Telegraph and Lombard Street Research housing
affordability index has revealed a ten per cent improvement since
it reached its floor last year.
Based on the average affordability since the 1960s (100 points),
the index hit a 16-year low at just 83 points last year, whereas
now it is up to 93 points.
This trend will not change in the near future, Lombard Street
director Diana Choyleva said, although she suggested the chances of
buyers having a lot of forced sale bargains available are slim
because unemployment will not rise as much as it did in the 1990s
recession.
Such a situation could lead to a major improvement in the UK
mortgage market.
Fresh figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that
lending dropped again in September, but this trend may be about to
change due to the stipulation the government issued to the banks it
has recently taken stakes in that they should increase mortgage
lending.
