The number of mortgages taken out and approved has dropped drastically in the past few months of 2012. The amount of approved applications peaked at 2,757 in February, that being the highest figure since 2007. Since then, it has got lower each month and steadily declining. This has obviously taken its tole on the property market, with less buyers houses are taking far longer to sell.
The government has said that it has in the past done little to help the property market, especially first time buyers trying to secure a mortgage to buy a new home.
Louise Holmes at Moneyfacts said: “The main reasons for the fluctuation in the number of higher loan-to-value (LTV) products will be due to the stamp duty holiday coming to an end and the introduction of the government’s NewBuy scheme.”
The government has introduced NewBuy, a scheme that is intended to help first time buyers to purchase property with special mortgages at around 95% LTV. The scheme is intended to help 100,000 new buyers in England and Wales to buy a new build home.
However some believe that the government is not doing enough to keep the property market moving.
Homeowners are taking up to 6 months to sell property, which is a long time considering you will have to pay 6 month of mortgage payments and 6 months of household bills.