Housing Crash Could Spell Disaster for Estate Agents
June 9th, 2008 by admin
According to a recent report thousands of estate agents could end up going bust over the course of this year as a result of tighter credit conditions sparking fears of a housing market crash. Over the past six months lenders have brought in far tighter credit conditions as a result of the global credit card crunch, and this is affecting the ability of many people to purchase a property, even though house prices are falling.
An official from the National Federation of Property Professionals said that up to eighteen thousand estate agents could end up going bust as a result of the credit squeeze and the effects that it was having. He said that lenders were over-reacting to the global credit crunch, and were effectively bringing the mortgage loan market to a halt because of this.
He said: “Lenders do not seem to be in the business of lending any more. They are the ones who lent irresponsibly and now the public and our industry are paying the price.” However, banks continue to predict that it will take years for the mortgage market to recover because of the credit crunch, and this has been backed up by the gpvernor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, who has predicted that it could take up to ten years for the mortgage market to get back to normal.
An economist from the British Chambers of Commerce said: “The Government must adopt pro-active policy measures aimed at countering the threats to growth. Public finances remain stretched. There are large current deficits and excessive levels of total borrowing.” He added: “Recent tax changes have undermined business confidence and they will face a difficult and risky climate over the next year.”
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- Posted in Credit Card, Mortgage