Mortgage Brokers Confidence Is On The Up

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Mortgage brokers are now feeling more confident about the state of the housing market – a good sign, because brokers are confident if they are able to find mortgages for their clients.

Many brokers now think that we have reached the bottom of the housing market and they are also starting to see lenders offer a few more competitive mortgages with easier credit limits. It's still tough out there, but things are slowly turing back in the favour of the borrower.

Stephen Smith, Legal & General director of housing says: "Our mortgage advisers are having a better quarter because they haven't been this confident since we started the index at the beginning of last year.

"And, over half think that business will get better over the next three months plus a further 40% expect to maintain business at current levels. The pessimists have sunk to their lowest ever level – just 6% anticipate worse business over the next quarter. Might those predictions of green shoots now be coming true? It seems that house price falls have slowed, as have falls in mortgage approvals and more and more evidence suggests that the housing market is over the worst. Our advisers certainly seem to think so."

Smith also says remortgaging activity is predicted to be steady, with a quarter of advisers saying that this will make up around 20% to 40% of their business. This is proof that more people are realising that now is the time to fix their mortgage while rates are still low. Also, more advisers are predicting higher levels of house purchase business than at any time over the past 18 months, according to L&G.

Talk to your mortgage adviser today and see what they think about your chances. They may be able to have new mortgages to offer you, they may be able to help you rearrange your finances completely. They might even be able to show you new ways of making your money work harder for you. Confidence is key to the housing market, and if advisers are confident, then you should be too.

SOURCE: L&G, 10/06/09

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